Forever After II: Redemption
by His.Pointy.Tongued.Majesty
Summary: The Triforce is gone... a new Evil has risen in Hyrule... the Unity is broken... now they must embark on the journey of their lives: a quest of love, of trust, and of forgiveness.
1. Parallel

_**Hello again. 'Tis I, Shinjiru Kokoro, back from the dead! Well, it's only been a month… a month of thinking of an amazing sequel for you guys! I hope you guys are as stoked as I am. Here you go! I expect reviews…  
Shea: Isn't that like blackmail?  
Shinji: Shuttup and do the disclaimer.  
Shea: -sigh- Shinjiru does not own Zelda besides Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Oracle of Ages, A Link to the Past, Four Swords, and Twilight Princess. The game versions. Just to clarify things.**_

_**Shinji: Shea, shuttup and let 'em read..**_

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Chapter 1

Zelda paced the halls worriedly. Her mind whirled with the things that made her worry. Her kingdom was threatened by Exelians; the majority of the people were impoverished; and her son hadn't woken up since being rescued.

A month… and he still hadn't moved. His eyes hadn't opened; not even a muscle had moved. At times, she wondered if he was evil alive. Link often gave her the comforting fact that he was, at least, still breathing. Shouldn't that calm her nerves, at least?

Sadly enough, it didn't.

Zelda stopped by a window, and watched as a girl with vivid red hair flung a sword around at Link. This brought a smile to Zelda. Ah, Claire. The girl never had left Shea's side. Except now. Link had offered to teach her to use a sword, and obviously, it was the most dangerous thing he had taken on. Claire was swinging it around, having no control over the weapon. Poor Link was dodging left and right, yelling at her.

Zelda shifted her eyes over to a lone figure that was resting against a tree, attempting to read a book, but was watching the practicing with amusement. She looked down at the book, and turned a page, pushing a strand of brown hair behind her ear. Emri had been the closest thing that Shea had to a mother on their journey here, from the stories that Claire told. It made Zelda laugh. Emri was the one who would rather sit down and read a book than fling a sword around, even though she was a better fighter than many men. In fact, she didn't wield a sword at all. Rather more, a bo-staff.

And there had been another member of the group, but they refused to talk about him. They only mentioned that he was a 'dirty traitor who deserves to live in the lowest pits of a volcano.' Well, that was in Emri's words, at least.

Zelda frowned. From what Link had told her, Blaize had been Shea's best friend, despite what they let on. Until they crossed the border, that trust had been a tying bond between them. And then it had been severed in two. That was all Link could tell her.

"…Trace! We need you over in the training ring. New recruits… you know how they are." A soldier's voice echoed up to where Zelda was standing.

Ah, yes. Link's alias: Trace. Almost seventeen years ago, Zelda remembered being frightened out of her wits when her normal 'routine' never occurred. Link had returned three months later, and that's when she found out that she was pregnant with Shea. It forced them to go into exile, to Termina, to avoid being found out, and getting Link in trouble.

And now, to keep that safety, he had changed his name.

_Termina… I remember those six years well._ Zelda smiled warmly. She had raised Shea for six years, until she was forced to come back to Hyrule. Those were probably the best six years of her life.

Zelda watched Claire unceremoniously plop down next to Emri, and read over the girl's shoulder. Emri turned her head to snap at Claire, before the latter laid down on the grass.

Moving away from the window, Zelda continued walking down the corridor. She was somewhat relax, despite the previous listed worries. There were no problems that she had to deal with so far; no landlords complaining about Exelian attacks… it had been nothing but peace in Hyrule Castle.

She passed a tapestry of her and Link on Epona while in her private wing of the castle. They were much younger, of course. She'd had this painted for her use only… there were many months when her best friend had been gone, seeing the world, while she had been stuck here dealing with politics. So, she'd had this tapestry done to curb her loneliness. She ran a hand over the paint.

Zelda turned a corner, and opened a door. She entered the room as a nurse was walking out, pain coming to her purple eyes as they laid sight upon her lifeless son.

Zelda opened the window, and brought a chair by the bedside, and took Shea's hand. She had been looking at a calendar, and it dawned on her that on this day, Shea turned sixteen. The third day of summer. And he wasn't even awake to know.

The prospect pushed more pain into Zelda's eyes. She remembered _her_ Shea being full of life, back in Termina. She remembered the spontaneous bursts of energy he always seemed to get, the bright eyes at the ideas that seemed to only get him in trouble.

Where was that Shea now?

She gently massaged his hand, reminiscing on what used to be, when there was the slightest movement of a finger.

Zelda tilted her head to the side as she leaned forward, hope expanding inside of her. She shook his shoulder, whispering, "Shea?"

His eyebrows came together as he rolled his head over to the other side. He muttered something that sounded like, "Leave me 'lone."

Zelda's eyes widened, before she ran out of the room, screaming, "Link! _Link!"_

_----_

Claire was lying on the grass next to Emri, who was still reading, watching the clouds overhead. Her green eyes were half open as drowsiness began to overtake her mind.

"Hey, Emri."

"Hm?"

"You ever wonder why the sky is blue?"

"…"

Claire looked over at Emri to see her giving her the strangest look she had ever seen.

"Yes, Claire. That is the exact question ravaging my mind day after day." Emri drawled before returning to her book.

Claire returned her eyes to the sky, pursing her lips, "It certainly wasn't created like that, I don't think. Someone _must _have chosen it to be blue." She shot up, looking horrified, "What if the sky was _pink?_"

Emri snapped her book shut, "Claire, I'm never going to finish my book, am I?"

"Nope!" Claire grinned, before turning her sight towards the arena where she had recently been sparring with Link.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she squinted towards a group of people… Link was definitely there, and Zelda… they were supporting someone who looked like-

"Emri…" Claire grabbed the girl's knee and started to shake it excitedly, "_Emri! _Who do you see walking towards us?" She pointed at the group.

Emri squinted, before they widened, "It's Shea! Oh, thank the Goddesses, it's _Shea!_" She threw her book a good five yards as she shot to her feet, and took off running, Claire behind her.

Shea looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the two girls racing towards him at full speed. He let out a sigh of relief when Emri stopped in front of him, "Shea! It's so good to see—_oof_!"

What he didn't see coming was Claire not seeing Emri stop, thus creating the domino effect of her crashing into Emri, sending Emri flying into Shea. The three of them descended into a crumpled heap on the ground.

Claire shook her head and looked around, "Shea? Shea?"

Emri twisted her head around, "_Maybe_ you would be able to see him if you got off of me!"

Claire rolled off of the pile, and ascended to her knees. As Emri stood up, Shea was still, eyes squeezed shut and tense from the impact.

Claire shook his shoulder, "Shea-a?" She said in a singsong tone.

Shea opened one eye, "Good to see you too." His voice was raspy.

Claire stood, and held out a hand for Shea. He grasped it, and as Claire pulled him up, he stumbled. Claire caught him, and put his arm over her shoulder.

Shea exhaled. He really didn't like depending on other people… at all. But his legs felt like lead; he had absolutely no idea how long he'd been out.

"About a month." Emri vocalized Shea's thoughts. Shea looked at her with confusion-

"I thought you couldn't read minds."

"I can't. But the shifted Balance has intensified everything."

Shea continued looking at Emri with confusion, "Shifted Balance? What?"

Link and Zelda shared a glance, before the latter said, "We'd best get you inside before we explain everything that has happened."

----

They all were seated in Zelda's chambers, away from anyone else in the castle that might overhear, when it was anonymously chosen that Emri would tell Shea what happened during the final 'extraction.'

After all, she had seen him in his fury.

"When the Exelians were... finishing the extracting process –I'm not sure what happened here—I think you might have lost yourself to the powers of Rhairu, eventually letting him take over. Shea, I don't think you can fully understand what he can do unless you've seen it for yourself. You blew the entire place apart! A good portion of the Exelian army was dead, and you were unconscious when we found you. Rhairu left a warning: 'Cross me one more time, and I will strip the Holders of my sisters' powers,' or something like that." Emri shrugged, "But during this month, the Exelians have been tearing villages apart, probably searching for you."

Shea was looking down at the ground, tapping his foot. "And people have died, haven't they?"

"Not so much as the month before." Emri offered, "I've looked at the census records!" She explained to Zelda, who was giving her a look.

Shea didn't say anything as he continued staring at the ground. He pushed himself up, leaning on the chair for a bit before walking to the door, using the wall to support himself. He opened the door, stumbled out of it, and slammed it shut. From outside, there was a sudden _crash, _and then-

"_OUCH!_" proceeded by a long line of colorful words.

Zelda sighed, "I should probably go help him…" she muttered as she stood, slipping out the door.

---

It really bothered him that he couldn't light things on fire at random anymore. It had been a favorite pastime of his, especially when he had something on his mind, when things weren't going right, or when he was just plain bored out of his wits.

Ever since that night, he hadn't been able to use his powers. He couldn't remember why, though, which was odd in its own self. He couldn't remember anything from that night, except that it was supposed to be the greatest night of Exelian history.

It certainly didn't feel that great.

And he couldn't shake the feeling that Shea had something to do with his memory loss.

He remembered waking up the next day, finding the room in ruin, and bodies were laying everywhere.

And then he learned of the Hylian prisoners. There were five of them that had been caught only moments before he had woken up. And Shea was gone.

So, naturally, one would assume that the Hylians knew where Shea went. The five had been interrogated, but they claimed they had no clue where Shea was, or who Shea was.

He looked at his left hand. It was blank, like it had been for an entire month. And that's the way it would probably stay, unless he figured out what happened to his memory, and why he felt so… powerless.

Power. That had been the original goal that his entire existence revolved around. Now, the very man that he bent over backwards for was treating him like any other Exelian.

But he didn't know why.

He rolled over on his side, facing the wall. In this past month, he had started to question everything that he believed in, everything that he had known. He had started to ask himself, 'is it all worth it?'

The image of Shea in unbearable pain made it seem like it certainly wasn't. Was watching the people that he had probably cared about in pain worth it?

One man might say it was, if the reward was power beyond compare. Another might say that power was nothing without friends to share it with.

Friends… Emri, Claire, Shea… he had let them all down. He closed his eyes in attempt to block out the faces that had haunted his nightmares. The sheer guilt was completely weighing him down; like a lead block had expanded all throughout his body. He felt lethargic all the time, and he never wanted to do anything or go anywhere.

He remembered Emri's last words: _"Do something! Prove my thoughts wrong!"_

And he had done nothing.

-----

Shea felt the desperate need to pace around in his room. But the funny thing was… _he couldn't walk._ At least, not without support. And he hated having to depend on things or other people… hated it with a fiery passion.

He supposed he got that from his father… who, he had just learned within the last hour, was the man who had accompanied him for the majority of his journey. Needless, to say, he was a bit shocked. Shock turned to anger, and then anger turned to… well, forgiveness?

And his mother… the first voice he had heard since waking. He had heard it in dreams, seen her in his dreams, but he had never imagined her to be more perfect. He was still in shock that she was actually real.

Although, for him, today was a sad day. Because today, ten years ago, was when his mother had left him. She had explained the entire story to him, and it brought back some of the memory that had been absent the majority of his teenage life.

He fingered the amulet that had been around his neck since the Exelian king had so mockingly put it on him. He remembered wearing it until he had been captured for the first time.

Now, it felt right; it added that sense of completion that he had been lacking ever since it was stolen from him.

Looking out the window, Shea noticed a column of smoke. His eyes narrowed. Somewhere, people were dying because of him. And he could do nothing to stop it.

He guessed that this sense of chivalry and valiancy had also been passed down to him from his father. But the grand genes that he had been given did nothing to soothe his rampaging nerves. How was it fair that innocent families were being torn apart, just as his had been so long ago, when he was now safe within a palace; united _with_ his family no less? Shea turned away from the window in disgust, his insides feeling as though they were snakes coiling and uncoiling, slithering around in an attempt to break free from their cramped prison.

It wasn't like he _wanted_ to be in this position. But what could he do in his condition? He was practically worthless… and he doubted that Emri and Claire could do much either. They were also confined between the walls of this ancient castle until 'the time was right'. Whatever.

If it were up to him, that time would be now. But, confound it! Shea sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair.

He could do nothing.


	2. Of Dreams and Fevers

**_Thank you HunterSpire, Regal, Gabbiez, and Zello for being the first to review! It's good to have ya'll back. I had fun writing this chapter... you'll see why in a second. And since Shea is now banned from doing disclaimers...  
Blaize: ...  
Me: Get it over with.  
Blaize: ShinjirudoesnotownZeldainanywayshapeorformbesidestheboughtversionsofthegame.  
Me: ...eh, we'll work on it._**

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Chapter 2

He was trying to find someone… he just didn't know who. He kept screaming the name, but the sounds didn't register in his mind. The black was endless; an abyss of nothing. He was searching in nothingness.

The only light was on him… he was watching himself run into the misty nothing. Why was he crying?

A spotlight shone a red light, and he stopped. Someone screamed his name, and he turned his head to see a figure stabbed through. Black blood burst from the figure's back where the black sword held by nothing permeated through. The red light was gone, and he started to run again, black tears streaming down his face.

He didn't know how long he was running, but he screamed a name… where was the person he was searching for? Why didn't they come?

Another red light appeared, and he stopped again, heart pounding against his sternum in fear. The figure was a silhouette, looking at him… the figure started to fade away. He took off running towards the black figure, reaching out… the figure turned to mist, dissipating between his finger-tips.

He fell to his knees. He knew he was lost… he felt cold despair overcome him like an ocean wave. An ocean wave filled with self-doubt, fear, and terror. He had lost two of them… how many more would he have to lose before he found the person he was searching for? His insides squirmed with the thought of losing everything he cared for… but who ever said that the figures he had lost only moments ago were the things he cared about?

He looked up, sight burry with tears, when another red beam of light shone through the black nothing. This time, two people stood in the ray, the red illuminating their features. He saw a familiar smile, and familiar eyes… but he couldn't place who they were. But they were both smiling at him.

Finally, something to warm the black coldness overcoming him… and then the figures turned away, one of them burying their face into the other's shoulder. He couldn't figure out why they were suddenly so sad… he wanted to stand, to walk over to comfort them, but he found that he couldn't. His legs were immobilized as he watched the red beam turn into blazing fire, consuming the figures.

The light disappeared, and he was able to stand once more, shaking with turmoil. With every scene, he felt a bit of his heart tear away… why?

He began to run again, resuming his search for that person that continued to elude him.

This time, he ran for much longer than he had before when a second ray of light shot through the darkness. It hit a wall, and there was the person he was searching for, back facing him. He called out, but the person didn't turn all the way to face him. The person merely turned his head to look at yet another ray. A girl stood there, staring at him with fear, arms crossed over her body and shoulder's hunched. He reached out to her, but she flinched away. The movement made his tear-ducts sting, as he said the girl's name. Soundless words floated through the abyss, shattering when they reached the girl's ray of light. She was crying, her eyes were full of terror… she was afraid of him.

He reached out to her, and he screamed soundlessly, turning away from him and beginning to run. He became angry, hand snaking out to grab her wrist. Cold flesh registered in his mind as she snapped her head around, eyes wide with fright… before she shattered.

Ice-cold tears fell over his cheeks as he watched the girl run from him into the darkness. He turned to look at the person… and realized that the person was crying as well. The person was on his knees, face buried in his hands. He shook with agony as his heart felt like it was being torn apart…

"_Why so sad, little boy?_" A low voice broke through the silence of the abyss, cutting through the darkness. He looked up to see a bright figure walking towards him, every step illuminating the darkness. He squinted against the light. The man walking towards him looked at him with golden eyes, long, yellow hair flowing around his face by an invisible breeze. Lightning crackled at the man's finger-tips.

The man laughed, almost menacingly. _"Do you not remember me, Boy? I am the one who saved you during the worst moments of your life. I am the one who controls your very destiny."_

He looked at the man, before recognition hit him… the very first person that he recognized was Rhairu. What was Rhairu doing here, in this personal Hell?

Rhairu laughed at him again. "_You can't even stand your own nightmare..._" He crouched by him, golden eyes meeting his violet ones. "_How pathetic."_

Shea averted his eyes. "_Why?"_

"_Why what? Why are you having this nightmare? Because you are troubled. Your troubled little mind is worried about losing everything you ever cared about._" Rhairu waved his hand over a section of the black ground, and there wavered Zelda, Link, Claire, Emri, and Blaize.

"_Why is Blaize-_"

"_You care about him, don't you? You still believe that he can come back..." _Rhairu smirked_, "Your hope hangs by a thread. He can only come back if he so chooses."_

Shea watched as the image of Blaize faded away. There was a pang where his heart was.

_"And her," _Rhairu pointed to Emri, "_her destiny is inertwined with Hyrule's. Her decisions affect the entire outcome of the very war you want to stop." _Emri's figure faded away. There was another pang on his heart.

Shea watched as Claire, and his parents stared up at him. "_What... what happens to Claire? My family?" _He asked with dread.

Rhairu chuckled, snapping his fingers over the images of Zelda and Link. "_If this war does not come to an end in your favor, then their lives will be extinguished." _The figures faded before Rhairu went on, "_And your heart's desire... she worries for you." _He sneered, "_Love is a fickle thing... it can be tended like a spring garden, kept fresh and beautiful... but one false cut can ruin a rose._" Claire's image faded, like the other four before her.

Rhairu stood, looking off into the distance of the abyss. _"Your nightmare is coming to an end."_

---

Snapping upright, Shea gripped the sheets tightly, knuckled white. His chest heaved as his heart convulsed...

As his breathing calmed. Shea swung a leg over the bedside, feeling the cold wood under his feet. He put a hand on the bedpost, and slowly stood.

Now, to see if he could walk. Putting one foot forward, Shea warily let go of the bedpost.

He laughed in triumph when he didn't crumple. He took another step, and another, until he was shakily walking with success.

Shea opened the door, leaving the room. He shut the door behind him as he looked around. The stairs were that way… okay…

Keeping a hand on the stone wall, Shea slowly made his way down the hall. As he walked, Shea thought about the dream. He couldn't shake the feeling that it had been a vision, a prophecy of some sort. He would never have had a dream when Rhairu came fortold of destinies, and what-not. Dreams were supposed to never make sense... but then again, this one had been more confusing than any other dreams of his put together. Shea grumbled. He just _had _to be the carnated form of a god who liked to speak in riddles!

Suddenly, the floor seemed to disappear. Shea looked down, and found himself at the top of the large staircase at the main lobby of the castle. He examined everything, before he heard his mother's voice, and a very distraught man.

"…they came and burned it all! I'm telling you, Your Highness, if you don't give the order to attack the Exelians now, they'll walk all over us. Your people will gladly take up arms against this… filth!"

Shea ducked back behind a wall as his mother and the man appeared. The man was wearing common clothing, but he had a cutlass at his waist.

Zelda rubbed her eyebrows, "I can't give that order just yet. You know as well as I that not everyone is able-bodied! I rule by what the Goddesses want, and they don't want me to declare war on the Exelians yet-"

"But we practically are already!" The man countered.

"-I will send cartloads of supplies to help you build up your plantation once more. Levi, you're our biggest supplier of cotton. If you go down, our entire economy plummets, and we don't need that right now. If the people continue with their lives, then it's the first step to get Hyrule back on its feet." Zelda dropped her voice to a whisper, "Leave the fighting to those who are trained to do so."

Levi stared at the princess defiantly, before letting loose a long sigh, bowing low, "Yes, Your Highness."

Zelda placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "May the Goddesses be with you."

Levi rose and strode out of the double doors. The soldiers closed it behind the man.

Zelda's shoulders slumped, as she turned around. Seeing Shea, she smiled, "Good morning, sleepy-head! How'd you sleep?"

Shea leaned on the banister, slowly making his way down, "Just fine, thanks."

Zelda watched with worry as her son reached the foot of the stairs. He paused to catch his breath, before he raised his head and asked, "How long have you been up?" His eyes flicked to the door.

Zelda turned to see where Shea was looking, and frowned, "Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it." She strode forward, and hugged Shea, standing on her toes to kiss him on the top of his head. "Breakfast is in the kitchen. Cook's got it all prepared."

Shea's mouth quirked up as he started to walk stiffly once more. He was stopped by his mother, who whispered in his ear, "I love you."

Shea swallowed, and smiled wordlessly. In truth, it was very awkward for him… he hadn't had anyone say that to him for a long time. And he didn't know what to say back.

As he slowly walked in the direction that Zelda had given, he made a mental note to find a map of this place. There were doors and hallways splitting off into every direction possible…

"...Claire! What have I said about taking more than what you can eat?"

"Aw, Emri! I can eat all this. And plus, half of this is for Shea!"

"_Liar! _You have bigger eyes than your stomach. Put that pile of fat back!"

Claire walked out of a door, holding two plates of food, eyes closed and nose held in the air defiantly. Shea watched her walk by, before Emri burst from the kitchen, "Get _back _here with that!"

Claire looked over her shoulder, before sprinting down the hall, cackling like a mad-woman.

Emri looked at the retreating form of Claire incredulously, before shaking her head, "Good morning, Shea."

Shea looked between Emri and the place where Claire had been, "What was that about?"

"Oh, Claire has a tendency to take more than what she can actually digest." Emri explained as she held the door open for Shea. She followed him back into the kitchen.

Shea sat down at the small, wooden table, oblivious to anything but the food sitting right in front of him: sweet, delicious, eatable pieces of matter.

Emri sat down as well, picking at the food, "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," Shea said through a mouthful of egg. At Emri's skeptical look, he gave her wide-eyed, _what _expression, "Seriously!"

Emri raised an eyebrow, leaning her head on her hand, "C'mon, Shea. I know you better than that. You _always _have something bothering you."

Shea scratched his hairline, "You know yesterday… when we were talking about…" he couldn't bring himself to say it. It angered him too much.

Thankfully, Emri understood, "Shea, these people _will _gladly die to protect you. I've been around them for a month. You should have seen their faces when we carried you through the town to get you here in the first place. You could almost _see _the vow they took to keep you safe written on their expression," she took his hand, and squeezed it, "You're their only hope in ending this war."

"But if I am," he started slowly, "then shouldn't I be _doing _something about it? I mean, if they're giving up their lives for me, then I should be doing something to repay them, at least!"

"Shea, you're not thinking rationally."

"No, Emri, listen to this. I was thinking last night, and I was thinking back to when the Exelians were extracting Rhairu from me. If they can do that, think of what _I _could do! With the abilities that you and Claire have, we-"

Emri interrupted him, "That's too dangerous. Remember, I told you the warning that Rhairu had left. If _anyone, _not just the Exelians, abuses the sacred powers again, he _will _take them away. I saw it written on the wall in the room that youhad destroyed. The room that _Rhairu _had destroyed. The Exelians had underestimated him far lower than what he is really capable of. And Shea, I don't even think that was the full extent of what he could do. Do you understand how much of a gamble that would be, to put yourself in that situation again? Instead of helping Hyrule, you might just blow it off the face of the planet if you lose control again!"

Shea looked down, and sighed in defeat, "You're right, Emri. As always. But then, what else can I do?"

"Just get better. You're still very weak from the extraction, and the coma you had been in," Emri smiled warmly, "You are very lucky, Shea. The average man wouldn't have been able to survive what the Exelians did to you."

With that, she stood up, and began walking out the door, "Now, to go find somewhere where I can finish reading my book without having to answer random questions…"

------

_The average man wouldn't have been able to survive what the Exelians did to you…_ The words of Emri echoed around his head. Shea watched the clouds roll overhead, contemplating what had been said that morning. _If I'm not so average, shouldn't I be able to do not-so-average things?_

He looked at his hand, examining his palm. It was hard to imagine that… lightning, of all things, could be generated from his hand.

Emri was right: the Exelians had underestimated Rhairu by a long shot.

"Shea!"

Shea sat up. Claire was trudging up the hill, waving her hand.

She plopped down next to Shea, breathing hard, "That was a long hike! How long did it take you get up here?" She turned her head towards Shea.

He shrugged, "A while, I guess."

Claire brought her knees up to her chin, "What's on your mind?"

Shea rolled his eyes, "Not you too! Emri already asked me this question!"

Claire raised her eyebrows, "And… what'd you say to answer?"

"Nothing," he lied, "just except that I hadn't slept well."

"You are such a horrible liar."

"Am not!"

"It's written all over your face. Something is bothering you, admit it!"

Shea sighed, "Fine. I'm not comfortable with 'everyone being willing to die for me' and blah blah blah."

Claire furrowed her eyebrows, "Care to elaborate?"

"Innocent people have been losing their homes, their families, their _lives, _to protect me. I just feel like I'm obligated to do something to repay them, to help end this war."

Claire crossed her legs, and turned so that she was facing Shea, "You aren't obligated to do_ anything _right now. There's not a lot you _can _do, except wait. We don't know the full extent of what you, much less Rhairu, can do. You have no idea how much your mother has been working to figure that out."

"You sound like Emri," Shea grumbled.

Claire exhaled, running a hand through her hair, "You used to accept help from other people. I don't know what changed that, but you're going to have to start accepting again! Shea, you can't win this war by yourself."

Shea glared at the grass, not bothering to reply to Claire. He knew that she –along with everyone else—were doing the best they could.

Claire stared at him, before sighing again, nudging Shea on the shoulder, "Come on. We should go back." She stood, helping Shea up. "You know, if you can walk up this hill by the second day of waking up, by the end of this week you could be walking by yourself."

"Hopefully."

-----

"Shea seems… agitated today. Very irritable." Emri told Claire later that day as they walked through the castle town.

Claire nodded, "Yeah…"

"Has he told you about his idea to stop the war?" Emri said quietly.

"No."

Emri shook her head, "Ever since he woke up, he's been more withdrawn."

"He used to accept help from people more easily, too," Claire offered.

"You think it's because of the sudden… break of his trust? You know… from _him?_" Emri whispered the last word.

"You mean Blaize?"

Emri cringed. "Yes. Blaize."

Claire put her hands behind her head, "That could be it. I mean, if I were in Shea's position, I wouldn't want to trust anyone after that kind of thing happened to me. Blaize and Shea had this bond between them, and then it just kinda… shattered."

Emri nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and you have to take into consideration that he's got another presence that's become more prominent, now. And that presence isn't exactly happy at the moment with everything going on."

Claire exhaled, "I guess."

The two walked in silence, before Claire turned her head, "Do you miss him?"

Emri cocked an eyebrow, "Miss who?"

"Blaize."

Emri choked, coughing, "Absolutely not! I say we're better off without him, that dirty traitor!" She shook her head, and coughed again.

"You know, when we saved Shea, I saw Blaize. I think. It looked like him, anyways."

"All the Exelians look the same."

"But—"

"Claire," Emri interrupted sharply, "we're not going to talk about this anymore."

Claire closed her mouth and looked down at her feet as she walked.

Emri looked at the girl through the corner of her eye, and sighed, "Claire, I'm sorry for snapping. It's just that I don't like talking about Blaize. I'm not comfortable with it yet."

"Okay, Emri."

----

The next day, Zelda was pacing the halls. Shea, Claire _and _Emri had a fever! It was ridiculous! The day before, they had all been fine and it wasn't the normal time of year when the fever went around, so Zelda had no idea why.

The nurse walked out of the room, wiping her hands, "She's got the symptoms of a fever; exhaustion, aching, the sorts. But she's complaining of not being able to move her left hand. As is Emri. They both lack feeling in their hands—as if the appendage is numb."

Zelda frowned, "Was the Triforce on their hands glowing?"

The nurse pursed her lips, "I thought I saw it flashing, but I couldn't be sure. Now, I have to go check on Shea. His condition wasn't any better than the girls' when I left him last. Excuse me, Your Highness." The nurse pushed past Zelda, briskly walking down the hall.

Zelda opened the door, and walked in. She was met by loud complaining-

"I want to move my hand, damnit! Stupid nurse, get _back here! _I'm _NOT _a cripple! Oh, hi Zelda!"

"Claire, _shuttup!_ You're giving me a bigger headache than what I've already got!"

"Oh, just because your empath-y powers are going haywire doesn't mean that you've got better privileges. I can yell all I want!" Claire slammed her right hand down on the bed defiantly.

Zelda put a hand to her forehead, "Claire, could you please stop yelling?"

"Sure."

Emri's jaw dropped before she looked away from Claire and crossed her arms.

Zelda walked over to Claire, and gently asked, "May I see your left hand, Claire?"

"Yes'm." Claire held up her stiff hand. Sure enough, the faintest image of a Triforce was flashing, getting dimmer and dimmer.

Zelda's eyes were wide, now. "Emri, is yours…?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Although, I can barely see it now…" Emri drifted off.

Chewing her cheek, Zelda rushed out of the girls' sick-room, almost running towards Shea's.

Forcing the door open, Zelda strode quickly to her son's side, oblivious to his irritated snapping. The Triforce was very, very faint…

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much! I don't _need _any stupid medicine." Shea snapped as the nurse poured a serum into a cup.

Zelda grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her; she didn't hear his intake of breath. There was a slight yellow-white gleam in his angry irises.

Shea jerked his head away, glaring at the cup that the nurse was handing him, "I'm not drinking it."

The nurse glared back, "You have to. It'll stop the pain."

Zelda's head snapped to look at the nurse, "What pain?"

"He's aching more than the girls. Even the slightest touch hurts him," despite this, the nurse grabbed Shea's hand, wrapped his fingers around the cup, and forced it to his mouth. She tilted his head, forcing the serum down his throat.

Shea gasped, leering at the nurse, "That _hurt_." The nurse ignored him as she re-capped the bottle of medicine.

Zelda was shaking her head, whispering to herself, "He's been crossed… how can the Exelians be so _dense?_"


	3. Bad News

**_Gabbiez: Haha, I thought Shea looked like a bumblebee, too, when I was coloring him. And Emri's do-dad on her belt... I had a random, spontaneous moment when coloring that thing. I appreciate your regular reviews! _**

**_Hunterspire: Yes, Blaize is banned from disclaimers..._**

**_Which brings us to the disclaimer! Claire, go ahead.  
Claire: Shinjiru Kokoro does not own the original idea's for Zelda, merely the games.  
Me: Good girl. -tosses a cookie to her- I've trained her so well..._**

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Chapter 3

When Shea had finally fallen asleep, Zelda rushed to the library, mind racing. _But… what's happening? Why are they all so sick? _She had heard the warning relayed from Link, but she didn't fully understand it. She didn't understand what Rhairu meant by taking away the sacred blessings… or something like that.

So, what better to solve the problem than books?

Of course, they might not have any documentation of this, or anything foretelling it… the thought made the princess' shoulder's slump as she forced the large, oak doors open into the library.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda calmed slightly. This room always calmed her nerves… she had spent many lonely nights in here, reading the words of other people's lives. It gave her some comfort that she could escape to another world, and not return to her own for a good while.

Rounding a shelf, she found a huge pile of books on a desk. Raising her eyebrows, Zelda followed the sound of excited muttering.

Again, more piles of books littered the floor, and Emri Cailyn was amid it all, pulling book after book off of the shelves.

Putting her hands on her waist, Zelda cocked her head questioningly, "Emri, I do believe you should be in bed. Your fever hasn't broken yet."

Emri started, snapping her head towards the princess, before sheepishly flushing at the mess she was making, "I'm sorry. But I have to read something. And Claire is still muttering angrily about not being able to move her hand. Speaking of which…" Emri looked at her own hand, which hung limp from her arm. It really was a wonder that she could carry a stack with her other hand without dropping anything…

"So," Zelda looked at the books on the floor, "have you decided which ones you're going to read?"

"Ooh, Zelda! I simply can't just choose two or three. They all look so appealing; they're _calling _for me." Emri looked at the stack in her hand, the stacks on the floor, and the stacks on the desk, before sighing. "I see your point."

Zelda laughed, leaning over and picking up a pile, "C'mon. I'll help you carry them."

Emri smiled, juggling the books that were already in her arms as she walked out of the shelf row. She looked at the princess curiously, "What were you doing in the library?"

"I have some questions that need answering." She solemnly replied.

Emri pursed her lips in thought, "It's about Rhairu's warning, isn't it?"

Zelda sighed, adjusting the books in her arms. "It's just so confusing. I _know _it seems so simple, but I feel like I'm overlooking something, like the answer is right under my nose!"

Emri raised her foot to the door handle, using her foot to push it down. The door swung open innocently. Zelda saw the girl brace for noise, but when none came, she poked her head inside, "Claire's asleep." She said this as if it were a heaven-sent miracle. She walked over to her bed, and dropped the books down at the end of it. Zelda made a more graceful attempt in setting the books down on the girl's bedside table.

Emri hopped into her bed, and picked up the nearest book. Within moments, she was deeply occupied.

Zelda sighed, walking over to Claire. The red-head breathed deeply, making soft snoring noises. The princess sat down next to the bed, brow furrowing when Claire's peaceful face changed to disturbed. She turned her head in a distressed fashion when Emri grunted.

Looking at the previously reading girl, Zelda was confused as to why she was clutching her head. She stood, and walked over to the girl, "Emri, Emri, can you talk to me? What's wrong?"

"He's… he's… he's taking it!"

---

Rhairu looked at the alter where a faint image of where the Triforce hovered impassively. With every passing second, the image grew bolder; brighter. He looked down at the incantation book he had used… after all, it was the first time in a long time since had to take this kind of matter into his own hands.

He had lost track of how long he had been down here. The incantation to pull the Triforce from the mortal world had taken longer than what he had remembered…

Did he regret this decision? Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was questioning himself if he was making the right choice. But otherwise, no. He didn't regret what he was doing. And he wouldn't regret what was next on his agenda.

Block off his power from his container.

Ever since that incident with the Exelians a month ago, Rhairu had been pondering how to keep his powers safe within Shea. But, that could only happen if he himself could remain calm… and lately, he had been made very irate at the actions of the Exelians. It had been noted through Shea… the boy had become very irritable and agitated by anything. And he was thinking away from the group… they had become disconnected.

That's why he was taking away their privileges. They had become independent from each other.

And by blocking off his powers, there was a lesser chance that his container would feel the emotions from the god he was representing. Of course, the barrier couldn't hold everything back…

"Brother." A serene voice penetrated the recesses of his mind. Rhairu turned his head over his shoulder, eyes narrowing. Hadn't he told Farore to tell the other two that he was busy and didn't wish to be bothered?

"What is it, Nayru?" He snapped.

The goddess shimmered with a blue light as she descended down the steps to where the alter was. She looked over her brother's shoulder, and her eyes narrowed, "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

Rhairu slammed the book shut, gripping the pedestal tightly, "Because it would only have erupted into an argument, and I can't risk getting upset, not when my emotions can permeate through my container."

"You're stressing about this too much. We let the world run its course before; you can certainly relax about it all. The Heirs will figure it all out without you interfering."

"My Balance wasn't threatened last time." Rhairu growled, "_We _weren't threatened last time, either."

"But," Nayru ran a finger over the ancient book, "why are you taking away the Triforce?"

"They do not have the maturity to handle it."

"Rhairu, you've seen the unity they've built up. On their journey they thought like one-"

"That was because Shea hadn't become independent and selfish in his thinking."

"You've become that way, too, my brother. It's only natural that he do as well," Nayru's tone softened. "Give the Triforce back."

"Sister… mere children do not deserve to have such greatness." Rhairu answered her in an equally soft voice, taking his sister by the shoulders.

"It worked once…"

"That was an exception. A time-changing destiny had to unfold. But even when together these mortals cease to be one. They lack the ability to hold the Triforce in unity."

Nayru's eyebrows came together, "They can learn."

"Perhaps…" Rhairu let go of her and turned back to the Triforce, which was becoming solid. He opened the incantation book to the page he had originally been reading and looked down at the words. "But to prove one's worth is more than feeling sorry…"

----

Zelda was, once again, in the library, flipping frantically through pages of multiple books. She highly doubted they would have _anything _on the removal of the Triforces, but it never hurt to look.

Her mind rewound itself back to when Emri exclaimed that Rhairu was taking it away…

"_Emri, Emri. Talk to me, honey; what's going on?" Zelda asked soothingly._

_The girl shook her head, digging her fingers into her scalp. _

_Suddenly, Claire sat up, eyes wide. "He's talking to me…" she started to shake._

_Emri managed a nod, letting Zelda know that she was hearing the same. "He said, 'You do not deserve this greatness: it is mine.' I feel like a piece of my soul is being torn off and sucked away."_

"_My head hurts." Claire declared, eyebrows furrowing. _

"_Emri's is hurting more so… her Triforce affects her mind…" Zelda whispered to herself as the brown haired girl drew in a hissing breath._

_And then another person came to mind. "Shea."_

_How was he faring? Was his being taken away? Or did Rhairu have something completely different planned for his container? It was so hard to tell… it was hard to predict what gods would do, but the lack of knowledge was often dangerous. And Rhairu wasn't turning out to be the merciful god he was normally depicted as… _

_Opening the door to her son's room, she sighed with relief to find him still asleep. She laid a hand on his fore-head; his fever had broken, at least. And thank the heavens that Rhairu hadn't done anything to him… yet. Zelda couldn't shake the ominous feeling that Shea was going to receive the short end of it all._

_His eyes slowly opened, and he looked at Zelda impassively, "Mom… he's taking it away." Zelda couldn't help but notice how calmly he said this. _

"_Yes, Shea. Emri and Claire's Triforces have been taken away."_

"_I don't know why."_

"_Neither do I."_

_Shea seemed calm, compared to the past few days. In the last few days, he'd been restless, snapping at everything and anyone. He'd refused to sit for more than a few minutes, always pacing with some unknown anxiety. And now, that anxiety was gone; he was relaxed._

_Zelda's eyebrows furrowed. "Shea… do you feel anything? Anything odd? Can you feel Rhairu?"_

_Shea blinked, expression still impassive. "Not so much. I know he's there; just not…" he trailed off._

_Zelda nodded, thinking. "It could be possible... but then..."_

_Shea stared at her without any emotion as he monotonely said, "He's blocked me. I can't feel Rhairu anymore, but it's been replaced by another presence. It's not a person... more of a force."_

_"A barrier." Zelda breathed. "Rhairu definitely wouldn't do this just because the Exelians are being thick headed again... something else is going on. Something else entirely."_

Why? It didn't make any sense...

Zelda blinked, before slowly turning back the page she had just flipped. Squinting at the ancient text, her eyes widened... "One who is selfish in thinking and not unified with his companions cannot hold the powers of a god."

That was it. That was why Rhairu blocked his influence from Shea... because he wasn't unified with Emri and Claire...

She slammed the book shut, striding out of the library, scowling that she would have to find Link... he said he would be breaking those horses she had asked him to break... maybe he'd still be down at the corral.

In all honesty, she thought the scars on his face made him look all the more handsome. She smiled, remembering those early years... it was so surreal, aging. She couldn't believe that the years had passed so quickly...

Zelda sighed as she walked.

The stables were located underground, a strategic formation to the castle. Often times during sieges, the stables were burned first. With them being underground, that couldn't happen. The horseback portion of their army was the strongest, and often gave the Hylians an advantage during battle. Horses were Hyrule's pride.

She stepped down onto the hay-strew floor, looking around. There were snorts and nickers from the horses. Zelda took in a breath, breathing in the musty smell of horse and hay.

The only problem... there was no sign of Link. _Maybe he's in the arena..._ she thought in the back of her mind as she started towards the exit that lead to the horse-back arena.

There was a shuffle behind her, and Zelda turned around as lips pressed down on hers.

With a squeak, Zelda relaxed against Link before pulling away suddenly. "What are you doing? People could-"

"No one is around, Zelda." Link whispered, warm breath sweet against Zelda's face before kissing her again. She closed her eyes, feeling the breath leave her body. _As always..._

As the two disconnected their lips, Link asked, "What are you doing down here?" He played with the tips of Zelda's hair. It was funny how much of the teenager he once was still resided in his personality.

"It's Shea."

Immediately, Link's expression turned serious, "What's wrong with him? Is Rhairu-"

"Link, calm down," Zelda breathed, "It's nothing life-threatening. He's just been blocked from the powers of the Balance. He no longer has feeling relating to Rhairu, and he no longer has control over the Balance."

"So, by blocked, Rhairu's emotions can't permeate through to Shea?"

Zelda nodded solemnly. "But it's a double-edged sword. While Shea can have his own emotions, the Balance is gone. He can't access it. _No one _can access it." She added firmly.

Link put a hand to his mouth, thinking as he began to pace. "...why?"

Zelda sighed. "It's because... he's become distant with the other Triforce Holders, and it's making Rhairu angry. It all started when Blaize betrayed him, I'm guessing."

Link nodded, silent. He sat down on a bench against the wall, thinking.

Zelda sat next to him, and laid her head on his shoulder, exhaling. "The Triforce has been taken away, too. The gods are punishing us for something..."

"Someone has made Rhairu very, very angry. That's all I know." Link replied. Zelda could feel the vibrating his voice created when he spoke.

"Well," she started, "we're just going to have to find out what exactly made him this mad."

"I thought it was Shea making him angry."

"No," Zelda raised her head, amused, "Rhairu put a barrier in Shea because Shea was making him angry. Rhairu taking away the Triforce is a completely different issue."

The two remained silent for a moment or two, letting the conversation sink in. It was a lot to handle... Zelda took a breath. "I'm worried."

Link looked at her softly, "We all are."

"No, Link. I'm worried about Shea."

At Link's confused look, Zelda continued, "You've noticed how he's become more distant from everyone. But, from what I remember, he used to be happy all the time. There was never a frown on his face..."

"That changed when the first thing he ever loved left, though, even if only slightly." Link reminded her, kissing the top of her head, "But after the incident with the Exelians, Shea probably feels like he can't trust anyone anymore."

"But does that include Claire and Emri? As far as I know, they've done nothing against him!" Zelda's eyebrows came together in thought.

"True, but it goes back to the trust thing. When we were surrounded by the Exelians the first time, we couldn't do anything to stop them. I knew it was a lost cause either way. Blaize was bad, but add on the people that you trust not doing anything... I think Shea could be permanently scarred." Link finished. Zelda looked at him in awe. She could never figure out where the wise understanding came from... Link seemed to understand almost everyone. She leaned her head on his shoulder again, and closed her eyes.

---

Shea felt strangely uncomfortable. He had gotten -somewhat- used to the presence of Rhairu inside of him before that was suddenly changed. It had been a week since he was sealed off from the god's essence. During that weeklong period, Shea couldn't have been more relaxed. But now, he felt edgy and restless.

Nothing like he had been before, though.

A quick shine of metal came flying at his head, and he ducked. Curse Emri and her bo-staff! That girl could beat a fully-grown, fully-trained soldier in two seconds flat. Shea had seen it happen.

Emri cocked her head, a smirk playing at her gray eyes. "Give up yet?"

Shea curled his lips, amusement shining in his own eyes, "Never." He growled before charging at Emri with the sword he was borrowing. He had been disappointed to find that the one that he had received during the conversation with Rhairu's Messenger was still with the Exelians. Well, not disappointed. More like angry.

Emri looked at him with a bored expression, before expertly turning her staff around so it hooked under Shea's torso, and flipped. Shea was smashed to the ground on the opposite side of where he had originally been.

He glared up at the sun, which was soon blocked by Emri's grinning face. "You okay?"

Shea grimaced when he heard the faint sound of Claire laughing in the background. "I've never been better." He replied thickly, sitting up, shaking his head from the sudden head-rush. He jammed the sword-point into the ground, and stood shakily, swaying from the lightheadedness.

He looked over at Claire, who was stifling some laughs. "You know, Claire. If you had been thrown into your back, do you think I would be laughing?"

"Yep!"

Shea smiled. She was probably right.

Emri clapped a hand on Shea's shoulder, and exhaled. "Well, I'm beat."

"You did _nothing_!" Shea contradicted, staring at Emri incredulously.

The girl laughed. "On the contrary, my poor, confused friend, I used my mind to predict what you were going to do next over and over again. So thus, I am tired." She grinned at Shea unbelieving face before skipping over to join Claire on the ground

Shea shook his head, picked up his sword and walked over to join the two girls. "You are one of the strangest people I have ever met, Emri. Just putting that out there."

Emri saluted. "Glad to be of service!"

Shea fell unceremoniously to the ground with a huff, looking up to the cloudless, blue sky.

Claire raised an eyebrow, and leaned forward. "Shea?"

"Yes, Claire?"

"You wondering why the sky is blue?"

Emri choked while Shea gave Claire a strange look. "...No."

Claire couldn't help but smile. "Then... what are you wondering about?"

Shea took a breath, and shrugged. "I don't know. A couple of things, to be honest."

"Care to tell?" Emri cocked her head with interest.

"Well," Shea chewed on his cheek, "I'm thinking about the time we've spent here. The time we could be using to help Hyrule-"

"Shea, you know that even if we did leave, we wouldn't know what to do." Emri said, softly.

"I know, Emri." Shea consented. Claire hugged her knees, and rested her head on them.

"What else?"

"...I'm thinking about Blaize."

Claire blinked at the hardness in Shea's voice and the sudden rigidness Emri gained in her posture. "And what are you thinking about Blaize?"

Shea picked a blade of grass, twirling it in his fingers. "I'm thinking if there had been a way to prevent all this. To prevent him from betraying us. To prevent the Exelians destroying Hyrule. To prevent the extraction-" he inwardly winced at the touchy subject. Emri must have noticed it, because she put a hand on his shoulder again.

"Shea, I've thought about it millions of times. And there had been nothing we could have done. Fate has rolled her die, and apparently, it wasn't in our favor."

Shea stayed silent, rolling around Emri's cryptic response in his head. "You're right, Emri."

Emri punched him gently on the arm. "Normally, I would say 'I know,' but I figured this wasn't one of those times."

Shea smiled and slugged her back.

Claire, not one to be left out, randomly hit Emri on the shoulder. Her face split into an innocent grin when the punch-ee turned to give Claire a scary look. Emri then shook her head in exasperation.

Shea stood, looking out over the terrace. He walked away from the girls up a small hill, coming to lean on a tree. He could see over a wall from here… he could see a vast plain that was Hyrule field.

He wanted to be comforted by the fact that he couldn't be an outlet for an angry deity anymore; he wanted to be comforted by Emri's wisdom, with or without the Triforce. He wanted to believe that everything was alright…

But something inside of him told him that something wasn't. Somewhere, out in Hyrule… something was horribly wrong.

---

"You are positive?"

"Yes, Your Highness." A voice squeaked, tone mixed with the tinkling of soft bells. The voice sniffed, "She's been horribly weakened… she could barely give me the order to come tell you."

There was silence.

"Thank you, Yasl. Is there anything I can do to help her?"

The voice, obviously named Yasl, sniffed again, continuing in his high-pitched squeaking. "You can help get rid of the meanies!"

Zelda's voice sounded stern, here. "Meanies? Can you describe them? Please, Yasl. You have to."

"They had red eyes, and some had marks on their faces… they've forced Mother to do their bidding. Even now, she is a slave to their wills!" The already squeaky voice rose a few octaves near the end.

There was an intake of breath as the sound of someone pacing started. "A fairy… en_slaved? _Such things are unheard of. It is a sin on its own. The Exelians have done much that need to be compensated for. Yasl, come with me. We need to go find Link. I think he needs to hear this from you."

"Link? The Hero of Legend? Yes, yes, Your Highness!"

A glowing yellow bauble floated out of a room, following Zelda. The bauble zigzagged around in spastic patterns. Even though there was no mouth, words were coming out of the lighted, sphere-like body. "Oh, goodness! Cousin Navi will be so pleased to know that he's returned!"

Zelda raised her eyebrows at Yasl. "It'd be best if you not mention that until after the original business is through."

"…what original business?"

Zelda really wanted to slap her hand to her forehead. Of all the fairies a Great Fairy could have sent… she had to send one with short-term memory loss.

But Yasl seemed to compensate for his memory failure by remembering things that no one would expect anyone else to know. Fairies were charged by the Goddesses to keep the knowledge of every living creature in Hyrule, good or bad. Yasl knew every creature and their dog. Where they lived, that particular specimen of creature's eating habits, and thoughts. It was… everything else he seemed to forget.

"Your Mother being enslaved by Exelians." Nonetheless, Zelda patiently reminded the fairy.

The fairy made a _ding-ding _noise as he seemed to leap in the air, overly excited. "I remember! Okay!"

The entire way down the hallway, Zelda heard Yasl muttering the 'original business' over and over again in order to keep his memory fresh.

Soon, Zelda heard Link's voice. He had told her that he was going over defense strategies with the captain today.

"…bring squadron five around here, we could flank the enemy if they were in a formation like this-"

"Trace!" Zelda called, making him look up from the drawing he was penciling in while the army captain held it. The captain bowed his head, muttering a formal hello to Zelda.

Link smiled, before his eyes found the yellow fairy floating behind Zelda's head. The blue eyes narrowed. "We'll finish discussing this later." He told the captain, handing him the pencil.

When the man was out of hearing range, Link only had to look at Yasl to give his question.

"The Great Fairy of Power has been taken captive." Zelda informed him.

Link stared at Zelda blankly. "By Exelians?" The thought made his fists ball up.

Zelda nodded, before turning her head to Yasl. "This is Yasl. He has come bearing the news."

"Was the Exelian king with the group that took the Fairy?" Link asked the poor, quivering yellow light.

By shaking his head, Yasl seemed to have a spasm attack accompanied by the ringing of little bells. "No, there was another guy… he had a hood over his face, I think. I couldn't see."

Link's eyebrows furrowed. "So, there's another person out there wanting the gods powers…"

Here, Yasl nodded. "The Fairies were created by the Great God Rhairu. It's been said that the Goddesses created each fairy, but that was only to protect the knowledge of Rhairu. The Great Fairies are like his children."

The two Hylians looked at each other. "Well, I didn't know that." Zelda muttered to Link.

"Good thing that Shea can't let loose Rhairu's anger…" Link whispered. "Yasl, can you recognize the man when you see him?"

The fairy nodded again, before suddenly shaking, tingling loudly. "Oh! He also said something about 'retrieving the Triforce.' He wanted Mother to find it for him."

Zelda and Link turned their heads slowly towards each other once more. They seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Yasl," Link started slowly, "I need to you to do us a huge favor… it involves finding the Triforce before this mysterious man does…"

If a fairy could gulp, Yasl would have done so.

* * *

**_Review, people! No reviews, equals no next chapter! What do you think of Yasl? Oooh, what about the news of a new baddie in Hyrule? Mahaha..._**


	4. Journeys

Chapter 4

Shea really couldn't be more excited. He was finally going to be able to leave the walls of the castle. He was finally going to be able to have a part in the saving of Hyrule. What that was, exactly, he hadn't figured out yet. But his mother had told him to meet her in the library packed and ready to leave.

Stuffing the last of his things into the pack, Shea clasped the sword-sheath over his chest, and shouldered the pack. He picked up the steel sword, looking at it once more.

It was... well, it just didn't feel right. It wasn't like when he had first held Rhairu's sword for the first time, when he knew that the blade was supposed to be in his hands. This sword was just... there. He sheathed it, and walked out of his room.

He shut the door behind him, before making his way down the hallway. He rounded a corner, only to stop when there were sounds of struggle from an open room.

Looking in the room, Shea refrained from a laugh, "Claire?"

"What!?" She yelped as she was startled to her feet. She brushed away a strand of red hair, grinning at him. "Oh, hi, Shea!"

Shea arched an eyebrow at the contents sprawled over her bed and an already bulging pack. She really didn't own that much... "You... need some help?" he offered.

Claire looked at him, confused before looking over her shoulder. "Oh. This? Nah. I'm _fine." _She grunted as she turned around and began to shove a blanket into the pack.

After some struggling, she straightened, turned and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah. I need help."

Shea laughed, setting down his pack and entering Claire's room. He emptied the girl's pack completely, and unrolled the blanket. "You gotta fold the blanket, not roll it." He folded it and laid it in the pack first, which was then followed by everything else.

Claire watched silently as Shea expertly stuffed her things into the pack. When the pack was tied off, she muttered, "Thank you."

Shea smiled. "No problem." He held out her pack, helping her slip the straps over her shoulders.

They both exited the room, walking side by side down the hall. Claire asked, "What do you think Zelda needs us to do?"

Shea shrugged. "I don't know. And frankly, I don't care. I just need to get out of here."

Here, Claire almost frowned. "Feeling restless again...?"

"Not like I had been." Shea answered, "But when you've been stuck somewhere for too long... you know? You just need to get out."

Claire nodded, grinning. "Yeah. I was just worried that Rhairu's barriers weren't working."

They walked in silence once more. Shea looked at Claire through the corner of his eye, and remembered the dream he had had only a week or so ago. _One false cut..._ Was Rhairu warning him about hurting Claire in some way, shape, or form? Shea thought that was impossible... how could he _ever _hurt someone like her? He and Claire had never fought before, after all. Well.. once. But that didn't count.

Before they knew it, they were turning into the library, where Emri was already waiting with Zelda and Link. Shea thought he saw something move; something shimmer behind his mother.

Zelda smiled, before becoming stern. "It's been a week since the Triforce was taken from this world."

The three teenagers nodded.

"And someone wants it for himself."

Shea's eyebrows came together. "The Exelians?"

Zelda shrugged, "Them too, but we've just gotten word of someone else, someone probably much more powerful."

"Why do you say that?" Emri asked, worriedly.

"Because he's been able to capture a Great Fairy on his own." The way Link said this gave them all goose bumps, intentionally or not.

"So," Claire started, "we now have to worry about the Exelians, _and _this new guy?"

"Precisely." Zelda nodded, grimly.

Shea stared at the ground, contemplating what was being said. "Wait, wait, wait. So, in order to keep this new guy from obtaining the Triforce... we need to go find it?"

The silence was his answer. "So, where is it?"

Zelda bit her lip, "I... I'm not sure." She watched as her son's face fell, before speaking up again, "But I found a guide for you

Shea arched an eyebrow, and looked at his father. Link grinned and shook his head. "Not this time." Link looked at Zelda, "Yasl, you can come out now."

The little fairy timidly floated out from behind the princess, settling down on her shoulder. There was a jingle as he seemed to shiver. "H-hello!" He squeaked.

Claire bounded up, and poked the fairy. There was a squeak as Yasl rolled back off of Zelda's shoulder. Claire watched the wings flutter rapidly to regain balance. "...what is it?"

"A fire-fly?" Shea offered.

"He's a fairy!" Emri exclaimed in exasperation.

"A fairy?" Shea and Claire asked simultaneously.

Much to Emri's relief, Link spoke, "Fairies are the closest things we know of that are directly related to the Supreme Beings. Before today, we had all thought that each individual goddess created their Great Fairy, the most powerful fairies in the fairy kingdom. Those three then spawned the other three, who subsequently have just as much power, but lack the directness that their 'mothers' have. Yasl is, more or less, the son of one of these six Great Fairies-"

"No, no, no! _Rhairu _created the original thr-"

Zelda clamped a hand around Yasl's sphere-like body, muffling the squeaking noises he was making as Link continued.

"-but, as Yasl just now exclaimed, we learned that the individual goddesses did not create the fairies on their own. The original three are, in fact, Rhairu's own daughters- figuratively speaking, of course. He gave some of his power to them to keep order in Hyrule and the world."

"And this man wants the power that the Great Fairies have." Shea stated, understanding now.

Emri threw her hands in the air, letting out a disgruntled moan. "Again with the power! I'm guessing this guy's an Exelian?" She growled out the name.

Yasl managed to wrestle free from Zelda's grip, zooming around in frantic circles. "No! Not the Great Fairy of Power! Mother! The Great Fairy of Balance! She's the one in charge of taking care of the nature's balance in the world. The meanie came and asked her where Rhairu had hidden the Triforce; she refused, telling him that only Rhairu's Messenger may know, and then he… he…" Yasl made a hiccup-like sound as he zoomed behind a bookshelf.

Link's eyebrows came together. "You mean that there is another Great Fairy that we don't know about? Balance?"

"Yes."

Shea gave the fairy-behind-the-bookcase an annoyed look. "And you tell us this now?"

"…I just remembered." The poor fairy muttered as he poked part of his ball-shaped body out from behind a book.

Zelda gave her son an apologetic look. "Yasl suffers from short-term memory loss."

Shea arched an eyebrow. "Short… term… memory loss? And he's supposed to be our _guide?_"

Suddenly, the yellow bauble was right in his face, shaking with fury; Shea leaned back, wide eyed. "I, sir, am perfectly capable of guiding you throughout Hyrule!" The little fairy squeaked indignantly. "Mother wouldn't have chosen me other wise! And I am related to the greatest Guardian fairy in history!"

"And who would that be?" Claire asked.

"Navi, of course!"

No one noticed Link's wince.

Yasl rotated back to face Shea. "Does that not convince you?"

"…sure? Please back away from me, now."

As Shea gave Yasl a wary look through the corner of his eye, Emri perked up. "So, where do we start looking?"

---------------

"Shea doesn't seem to get along with Yasl." Zelda commented to Link as they walked down the empty path. The evening breeze was barely enough to rustle the leaves on the trees, and it made her shiver. This had been her favorite place to walk alone... outside of the castle walls, where the grass did seem greener, and the trees lusher, and the flowers much more vibrant.

Link shrugged and grinned, "Remind you of anyone?"

"You?" She teasingly replied back.

Link rolled his eyes.

Zelda let out a contented sigh, hooking her arm through Link's. And then he pointed off to their right. "Look over there."

She did, before giving him an odd expression.

He gave a coy smile. "Remember that night, hiding from the guards...?"

Zelda's face flushed with blood. "How could I forget? My lips were swollen for days after that..."

_Vaguely in the distance, they could hear the calls of commands over the slight tramping of their own feet as they ran. He had snuck in -again- and had taken Zelda out through her window. For the young princess, it was like a knight-in-shining armor coming to her rescue. _

_"Over here." He whispered, gently pulling on her hand towards a large patch of thick-trunked trees. Zelda bit her lip in effort to keep the excitement of the escape in as she followed the dark clothed man. _

_Link pushed past low branches and plants, guiding her over logs and rocks. His eyes sparkeled against the night air as he squeezed her hand gently. "What now?" He asked, "We've scaled the outer wall of the castle, successfully escaped the ever watchful eye of the guards; had enough adventure for today?" _

_Zelda put a finger to her lips in thought. "Hmm... not quite." She giggled when he exaggerated rolling his eyes, the extra effort of his exhasperation making the princess clap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing._

_"Princesses aren't supposed to _enjoy _getting their skirts dirty! They're supposed to be having little garden parties, sipping tea and talking about silly little things like the shortage of lace in the last few weeks..._Why _are you laughing at me?"_

_"Because," she managed to say, "you have the funniest habit of using your hands when you talk."_

_At this, Link couldn't help but relinquish a small grin, but looked over his shoulder when he heard voices and footsteps trudging through the grass and shrubs. Grabbing Zelda's hand again, he dove into the underbrush of the area, pulling the princess down with him._

_He felt the breath leave his lungs when Zelda seemed to flop down on top of him. Zelda opened her mouth to say something, but he put a hand over it as the footsteps drew closer, the voices right above them..._

_"I could've sworn I heard something."_

_"Check the area. They couldn't have gotten far."_

_"Damnit, I don' think I know anyone who's safely gotten out of these woods alive... especially if they went deeper in."_

_"Which is why I'm telling you to check the area around us now!"_

_Link held his breath when a light directly above the area they were hiding. He could hear the pulse in his ears as he watched the guard scan around him... _Please don't look down, please don't look down..._ he prayed, feeling Zelda's hand squeeze his as she felt his heart speed up._

_An eternity seemed to pass before the guard turned away. "I don't see any sign of passing. Let's check somewhere else... I don't like this forest."_

_"Aye, I second that..."_

_When the soldiers were gone, the two hiding let out their breath in unison._

_Link shook his head. "That was too close. We need to get you back."_

_Zelda furrowed her eyebrows. "You mean you're not tempted?"_

_At the question, Link blinked, "I... what?"_

_Zelda looked around nonchalantly. "I don't know. Thrill of the chase, close proximity, sexual tension... you're not tempted?"_

_"Oh." Link felt his face warm. "Um... well, kind of..."_

_Zelda grinned, thoroughly amused at the situation she managed to stick the man beneath her in, and pushed herself up, propping herself up on his chest with her elbows. "What do you think about when you're alone at night?"_

_Link laughed, running a hand through the princess's hair. "I think of my day, of the things I did during. But I think about how lonely I am. Ever since you reset time and all that... I've been lonely, thinking about how I might never be able to see the woman I love again."_

_Zelda leaned forward to touch her nose to his. "I do believe I find that odd that a young child was in love." She teased._

_Link closed his eyes when he felt the slight brush of her velvet lips in his skin. "Those feelings were forgotten of course, but were later remembered..."_

_"You still hadn't answered my question."_

_"I think about you." Link kissed her petal-like lips. "What do you think about?"_

_Zelda hummed softly. "I think about the future. A future family... with you as my..." she trailed off as Link raised his head to take her lips in his. He wrapped his arms around her delicate torso, pulling her down closer to him. Her long hair fell over, tickling his face as her hands wound into his own hair. _

_They broke contact to regain their lost breath. Link gently ran his thumb under her eye, and gave a coy smile before saying, "I'm definitely breaking a few laws right now, aren't I?"_

_Zelda laughed. "Only a few. But that's okay. I'm breaking them, too." _

_Link grinned before kissing the princess again, moving along her jawbone and under her ear._

_Zelda sighed at the lingering feeling of the featherlight kisses as they traversed down her neck. "I love you, Link." She felt the vibrations in his chest as he spoke in a low tone that made her want to melt._

_"And I you, my dear Zelda."_

_Then all self-conscience and sense seemed to fade away from their minds... _

"And then you were called away..." Zelda said off-handedly, head lying on Link's shoulder.

Link chuckled, stroking her hair. "And I come back four months later only to get the living daylights scared right out of me."

"How was I supposed to know?" She defended herself, raising her head from his shoulder to stare into his eyes. "It's not like I'd ever had a child before then. I didn't know what to expect."

Hugging her close, her whispered into her ear, "I honestly can't give you an answer for that one."

"I don't need an answer," she muttered as she closed her eyes, nestling into his chest, "I already got him right here. And he is mine. I officially claim this hero as mine." She declared to the night, grinning when he kissed her on the top of her head.

"I belonged to you from the very start... only as long as_ you _are mine."

"I think we've already established that."

--------

Shea yawned, and stretched. It was four hours until dawn. _Four hours. _Now, he wasn't complaining or anything but... this was a time when he supposed to be asleep.

Looking over at the two girls, he told himself to not make either of them angry. It was a well known fact that Emri never liked getting up early... but Claire looked like she was going to rip someone's arm off with her own teeth if they so much as even talked to her.

All they were waiting for was Yasl, and his parents.

A few minutes later, the yellow fairy's humming reached Shea's ears before the light was actually visible. Nonchalantly floating around a corner, the fairy abruptly halted, and tingled. "Oh! We're supposed to be leaving!"

Shea's jaw dropped. "You _forgot!?_"

The normal yellow glow seemed to gain a redish tint. "...yes." he muttered sheepishly.

Shea felt the desperate need to slap his hand to his forehead multiple times.

"Oh, good. You're all already here."

His mother and father coming around the corner pulled Shea from his day dreaming on all the ways one could mysteriously dispose of an annoying fairy.

Zelda quickly looked the four of them over, nodding her head when she came to look on the three packs. "You ready?"

Shea gave a thumbs up. "More than."

His mother gave a weary smile, before frowning. "This journey will be harder than anything you have ever faced. We don't know for certain where the Triforce is hidden, and there will be Exelians following you, no doubt, as well as this new force. As we do not know what he can do, I suggest not getting in his way."

The three teenagers shouldered their packs, solemn expressions masking their tiredness and worry. Zelda raised her hands, which began to glow blue. "Do not try to make contact with me save during emergencies. With the Balance shifted, Rhairu has made it harder for his sisters' powers on this world to be used with ease. If you absolutely must speak with me, I find water to be an easy transmitter," she closed her eyes, "Claire, be cautious with your words; you have a habit of speaking before you think. It can get you and your friends into trouble. Emri, your wisdom is the most powerful thing you posess; think things through, and go with your first instinct… Shea…" the princess opened her violet eyes as her hands glowed with a stronger intensity, "stay in control. The barrier cannot hold all emotion. When in doubt, listen to Emri and your logic."

Shea nodded, and looked over at the spastically bobbing form of Yasl. The adrenaline of the magic that was circulating throughout the room was getting to him…

Zelda inhaled, "The only thing I can do to aid your journey is to send you off to the first place one would start in their search for the Triforce… the Great Fairy of Balance."

Behind him, Shea heard Claire grumble, "Teleportation… _great._"

Almost as if on cue, Shea felt an uncomfortable pull on his stomach, and he felt lightheaded as the room suddenly disappeared. The last image he saw before completely blacking out was a rocky field and the girls landing beside him.

Back at the castle, Zelda collapsed with a gasp into Link's arms. Taking multiple deep breaths, she looked up into Link's questioning eyes, her own wild with sudden fear. "We never should have sent them."

Link's eyebrows furrowed.

"Only three of them are going to return."

-------

First of all, there was something sharp under his head. Second of all, he felt like he was going to throw up.

Shea rolled over, feeling the relief of the sharp-object leaving his head. Looking at it, he scowled. A rock. He had landed on a rock bed.

Raising his head, he found that the rocks surrounded them… rust colored dust flew in miniature whirlwinds on a wasteland that seemed to stretch for miles.

Standing, Shea blinked. "Where are we?"


	5. Stumped

_O**migosh, I have no idea why this took so long. This chapter gave me the **__**hardest **__**time. I'm so sorry for it taking this long... but at least you know I haven't given up on you guys! Thank you all for not sending me hatemail. Thank you, thank you, thank you.**_

**_And now, without further ado, I give you chapter 5!_**

**Chapter 5**

Shea put his hands on his hips. "Well?" He turned his head to look at Yasl expectantly. "Well?" He asked again.

The yellow fairy did a three-sixty turn to view his surroundings. "I… I don't know."

"So, you have no idea where we are?" Shea started in a malicious tone, "Nothing looks familiar?"

The fairy jingled nervously. "No." He squeaked.

Before the blonde could take the little creature in his hand, Emri flicked him on the back of his head. "Temper, Shea. Temper." She gently reminded him as she walked by. "How long do you need, Yasl, until you can remember where the fairy's fountain is?"

"Umm… a day?" Yasl responded uncertainly.

Shea let out a mixture of a scoff and moan.

Emri ignored it, and helped Claire get up. The latter muttered something like, "I hate teleporting…" but Emri went on-

"Well, we'll just have to sit tight until you do. Okay, Shea?" she eyed the mentioned.

Shea waved it off. "Right."

There was a tingle from Yasl, and all three of their heads turned to look at him; all three faces hopeful. "This area is notorious for flash-sandstorms!"

"Well then," Emri started, "we should find-"

She was cut off by a sudden onslaught of sand and wind. Yasl leaped down Shea's collar, as the other three buried their heads in their arms. Shea growled, "Because heaven forbid _anything _we do should go right!" Unfortunately, he wasn't heard due to the howling wind.

Claire started to trudge forward, "I saw an overhang over this way!" She hollered over the sandstorm. The other two didn't bother to answer; the wind was too loud.

The trek gave Shea the time to think. He wondered how long it'll be before he had to face this new threat. It was inevitable. Just like everything else he had to go through… But, he wondered, if this new threat had anything to do with the Exelians. There was the possibility that it was, or someone had waited until the hard part (and most dangerous) was done, and was now trying to claim the heaven's powers.

Shea growled. He knew this new protectiveness of the Powers came from Rhairu. But he would protect them if it cost him his life.

No matter what it takes.

Which brought him to his next worry. He opened one eye, and stared at the back of Emri. He couldn't help but worry... _Her fate is tied to Hyrule's. _The warning that Rhairu gave him in his dream echoed in his mind. The possibilities ran through his mind. And all terrified him to the core... if he lost Emri, he didn't know what he would do. She was, more or less, his backbone; his reasoning.

"I see it! I see the overhang!" Emri exclaimed before she started to, or attempted to, run. With a new sense of urgency, the other two rushed to follow her. The sand continued to pelt their skin, sting their eyes, and fill their mouths every time they tried to communicate. The overhang, albiet a blur in the distance, seemed to get further and further away with each, struggled step through the sand. Vaguely, Shea wondered if, by some mischance, they were walking right over the fairy's domain? He had heard once, that fairies liked to place their domains in possibly the most inconvenient places. And underneath them certainly would be inconvenient.

Then, as if by some miracle, the three dove beneath the rock that the sand had failed to cover in its violent storms. Immediately, they all took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. And then they looked at each other, and laughed. "Well, our journey _couldn't _start out easy." Emri scratched her head.

"Heaven forbid." Shea agreed, before jumping when Yasl suddenly moved. The fairy seemed to be having trouble in finding the shirt collar. "Hey! That tickles! Stop!" The boy ordered as he pulled up his tunic, and grabbed the claustrophobic fairy. There were pathetic squeaks that Shea passed off as coughs as he released Yasl into the air.

"Is the sandstorm over? Because you, my incarnated friend, need to take a bath." Yasl taunted, clearly not happy at the way he had been handled.

Claire didn't pay attention to Shea's reaction. But she knew that it invovled yelling. She was tired... lying down in the sand, she watched as Shea tried to snatch the little fairy in his hands, letting her eyes droop until they were closed, and sleep overwhelmed her like a blanket.

--

Something had burrowed underneath her. And it was moving.

...moving?!

Claire shot up with a scream. "Emri! How big are desert spiders!?"

"Not very big." The other girl's answer came, somewhat far off in the distance.

Claire watched nervously as Emri stayed sitting on the stone, pondering how the girl coudl stand the heat radiating off the inanimate object. "Um..."

Emri then looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Claire, are you scared of spiders?"

Claire sputtered, "Pfff. No! i just don't want one to jump out at me..."

Emri smiled lightly at this before closing her eyes again. "Hey! Are you almost done cleaning your sword, Shea?"

A grunt responded to her call from inside a large tent off to the side of the area they were resting in, the large flap moving with the slight breeze.

"Yeah..." they heard Shea's voice, gruff and grouchy, along with the rough stand moving underneath him as he probably stood up. "But seriously, the heat is killing me! How are you guys even outside?"

"We of the female race are more adaptive. And we don't care to go sit in a hardly shaded, cramped tent, simmer and sweat with the other bodies that are also stuffed inside." Emri said this all with such sexterity, Claire wondered how the girl didn't even twitch while talking.

Shea made another grunt sound. Claire giggled.

"Coming, coming," he grumbled, holding open the flap of the tent as he climbed out, standing up to adjust his shirt atop his head, which seemingly provided a small amount of shade for his red face.

Claire's own face became red for an entirely different reason...

Shea sighed, and threw his shirt down on the sand as Emri jumped off the rock, unclipping her bo-staff from her belt. She twirled it once, "Ready to get started?"

The blonde swung the sword around, and nodded, before attacking Emri. The girl blocked easily. "Too slow."

Claire had to take many deep breaths to get her rapidly beating heart to slow. Since when did Shea having his shirt off bother her? She didn't understand... she raised her eyes slightly from under her hand.

She never realized how skinny he was. That was one thing. The other thing, was that all the sword-fighting had really toned him up. Claire blushed again.

The sand moved again under her hand. Yelping, Claire watched as the lump moved slowly. Tilting her head, she scooped the sand away from the lump. Yasl zoomed out, shaking. "About time! I didn't know which way was up, or down, or left, or right... I was so confused!"

Smiling, the girl let the fairy land on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Hey, do you remember where the fairy fountain is, now?"

The fairy tingled, "No..."

"That's okay." Claire pat him on the top of his sphere lightly.

"... that's it! It's too hot, I have sand in my eyes, and I'm _tired. _I'm done!"

Claire looked over at Shea and Emri. The latter was sighing and clipping her bo-staff back onto her belt. "We'll practice later, when it's cooler."

"Fine with me." Shea snapped, throwing his sword down and sitting down by Claire. Claire had to hide her face again, seeing as Shea forgot his shirt out where he and Emri had been practicing. After a short while, she opened one eye, and gasped. "Shea! Where'd all these scars-"

"-come from?" Shea's voice took on a harsh tone that made Claire wince. "The Exelians," was all he said before looking at Yasl, "You remember anything?"

Yasl seemed to hum for a second, before squeaking, "Oh! Yes, I remember something!"

Shea's eyes lit up, "Really? Finally, we can get moving now."

Claire stood up as Emri walked over, "What happened?"

"Yasl remembered where to go." Shea informed as he stood as well. "We should break camp right now before he forgets. Claire, get a stick, and have Yasl scratch directions in the sand while Emri and I take this tent down."

Emri nodded approvingly, following Shea over to the small tent.

--

Two hours later, the three were huddled over a small map that Yasl had drawn out -with Claire's help, of course. "So, we're here." Shea pointed to a triangle that was in circle.

The fairy jingled. "Yeah. And then the fairy's fountain is marked by that triforce, there!"

"Uh huh. So it's not that far from here." Emri peered at the map, memorizing it before the sand blew it away. "We just have to look for three rocks in a straight row that look like the three goddesses.

"Hah!" Shea scoffed, "in the middle of no where."

"Just because I kicked your butt doesn't mean you have to get sour." Emri taunted.

"You didn't kick my butt. I got tired, and quit." Shea shot back before looking at Yasl. "So, how far away is this domain?"

"Maybe two to three leagues away." The fairy squeaked.

Shea nodded, "Then lets get going." He stood, taking the pack over one shoulder.

Claire blinked before turning red once more.

Unfortunately, Shea saw. Fortunately for her, he had a selective mind-set. "Claire, are you sunburnt?"

The poor girl nodded furiously, pushing a stray lock of red hair away behind her ear, picking up her own pack.

Yasl perched himself on Shea's shoulder as the three started to walk. Within the hour, their hair was plastered to their foreheads with sweat, and they were breathing hard. Constantly, they were reminding each other to drink water sparingly. Despite the needy feeling their parched mouths sent their minds, they forced themselves to take small amounts of water over the course of the two hours it took to find the markers. They were starting to lose hope, and Shea was starting to lose his patience with Yasl.

"If you didn't give us the right directions, I am going to _throttle _you-"

"Shea! The statues are right over there!" Emri whacked the blonde over the head. "Now, be nice and try to find the domain."

Shea muttered a 'yeah yeah,' as he jogged over to examine the statues. The wind, over time, had eroded the faces off of the goddesses, rounding each fine detail so it was obscured with the rest of the red rock. Putting a hand on the rock, Shea could feel a throbbing power -weak- coming off of the rock. "I think we have to do something with these." He called over to the two girls. He looked at the fairy on his shoulder, "Well?"

Yasl was shaking as he racked his brains. "Umm... something about an order..." his small voice was lost in a sudden wind that came up, starting weak, but growing in strength, and quickly at that. The three had to duck, hiding their eyes as the sand whipped about them, flying away.

Emri was the first to open her eyes. "Oh, my Goddesses..."

Shea and Claire followed, and they found themselves looking at a large, flat, sheet of rock. Claire took a step onto the red clay, kneeling down. "There are runes on here... I can't read it." Shea came over to kneel by her, shaking his head.

"I can't read it either. They seem familiar, though, like I've seen them before..."

Emri tilted her head as she read the runes, starting at one end of the platform, and working her way across as she read. "It's Ancient Hylian. _To reach the Daughter of Balance, put the Triforce in its proper place_. At least, that's the gist of it."

"Put in the proper place..." Shea looked down, eyes scanning over the clay. Lines... "Yasl, fly up to get an aerial view of the platform." The fairy hovered above Shea's shoulder before flying upwards towards the desert sky.

"Hey! There's an outline of a Triforce on here!" Yasl called down, sounding very weak as his voice was carried away by the wind.

Shea looked at Claire. Claire looked at him. Claire looked at Emri. Emri looked at her. "Statues." They said in unison. The three bolted over to the statues, but faltered when the truth dawned on them: the statues were pure rock.

Claire put her hands on her hips. "Well, whoever got here first must be pretty strong to move them to their original place, and them move them _back."_

Emri nodded in agreement. "Well, Din is power, and power's on top... Wisdom is Nayru, who's on the bottom right, and Farore -yes, Claire, you- is courage, who's on the bottom left."

"But the question is," Shea crossed his arms, staring up at the statue, "how do we move them?"

"Power of Rhairu!" Yasl landed on Shea's shoulder, exclaiming. "This is Rhairu's ancient shrine. Only the power of Rhairu can work here."

Shea was intrigued now, "Then, how did the first person get in here in the first place?"

"Shea, we'll worry about that later. Now, we need to get these statues moved." Emri reminded. "One step at a time."

"Right." Shea rubbed his hands together, and then held them out, then saying in a -what he thought- regal voice, "I, Rhairu's Incarnate, command thee statues to _move!" _When nothing happened, Shea frowned. "Move. Now. As in... scootch. Bust a move. Slide... over there." He moved his hands in the direction that he wanted to the statues -still inanimate- to go. "Why won't you move!"

Meanwhile, Claire and Emri were rolling on the ground in huge fits of laughter. They couldn't even draw in a breath to tell Shea that he looked like an idiot. Giving them looks, Shea put his hand on his waist. "Oh, yeah? Like you could do better?"

Simmering down to insane snickers, Emri stood up... with difficulty. "No. But that was funny."

Claire was still cackling.

Emri took a deep breath, and exhaled with a sigh. She shooed at Shea, smiling. "Get back on the Rhairu power thing."

"I don't know what to do!" Shea admitted, "You have any suggestions?"

Emri came to stand by him in front of the statue, shaking her head. "For once... I don't know."

"Great."


	6. Knowledge

_**Alright, I owe you guys big time... So, here's chapter six, earlier than what I had anticipated and what I normally take to write a chapter. -looks away...- **_

**Chapter 6**

The sun was setting across the desert, thus causing the heat to go down and the critters to come out. This is no exaggeration in saying that Claire was yelping and screaming every five minutes. Now, she had made a pile of all the packs, raising her off the ground, and wrapping herself with the tent tarp. "Stupid scorpions, stupid spiders, stupid snakes..." she kept muttering. Yasl landed on her shoulder, making the girl jump. "Are they having any luck with the statues?" She asked.

Yasl jingled sadly. "I've never had to use them... so I don't know." Claire sighed.

Emri tapped her foot, staring up into the eroded face of Din. "Oh, don't stare at me like that. We're trying to figure it out! Great... I'm talking to a statue!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Shea! Having any luck?"

"...no, Nayru. I'm not as smart as you. And apparently, neither is Emri. We're trying to figure it out! Just give us a sign! I'm talking to a statue. I'm talking to a statue. Great, Emri!" Shea ran a hand through his hair. He pulled the tie out of his hair and tied it back up again. "This is vexing."

"Yes, yes it is." Emri had to agree. This was the hardest puzzle she had ever come across. "Use Rhairu's power... move to the rightful places... Daughter of Balance. Do they not know that you've been sealed off from Rhairu's power?"

Shea froze. "Emri... repeat that."

"What? You've been sealed off?"

The blonde looked at his hand. What if... he rested his hand on the base of the Nayru statue. He covered the Triforce with his palm, and closed his eyes. Exhaling nervously, Shea let himself go... he felt himself shrink backwards into the very fabric of space and time, towards the heavens. He felt light, like he was in water.

"_So, you finally came to me. I knew you mortals would need my help."_ Rhairu appeared in a gradient of golden light. Shea had to block his eyes from the lighted figure walking towards him. The god's white hair flowed like liquid, golden eyes leering at him in a mocking fashion.

"You don't need to get cocky." Shea grumbled.

"_I'm a god. I have a right to be cocky." _Rhairu smirked, coming to stand in front of Shea. The heat from the light coming from him was burning... Shea endured the blinding light to look up at his golden eyes.

"I need your help."

The god raised his eyebrows. "_I'm listening."_

"You need to unblock me."

For some odd reason, Rhairu found this hilarious. The god started to laugh, doubling over and slapping his knee. But his laugh was surprisingly dark... it made Shea shiver. "_Unblock my powers? Do you realize that that would completely defeat the purpose? What do you want afterwards? For me to just _hand_ you the Triforce?"_

"That _would _be nice..." Shea mumbled before regaining the stronger edge in his voice, "If you want me to do what you want, and that's find the Triforce thus redeeming myself and all that, you need to help me. I can't do this alone!"

Rhairu arched an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth quirking up. "_Really? You're admitting that you can't do everything by yourself? Well, this is an improvement."_

"Just quit avoiding it, and help me!" Shea was starting to get annoyed.

Rhairu let out a sigh, crossing his arms again. "_Alright. I'll give you a small percentage of my energy, enough to move the statues. But when it's gone, it's gone. Understand, my persevering little incarnate?"_

Shea nodded. "I understand."

"_That's a good kid." _Rhairu patted Shea on the head -much to the latter's chagrin- and began to glow again. "_Now, this is the only time that I will aid you freely. The next time you come to me, it will be payed with a price."_

Shea frowned. "You aren't as merciful as the books say you are..."

The god smiled maliciously. "_I did that on purpose. Now go. Your body is freezing."_

Shea opened his eyes with a gasp, finding himself passed out on the sand. True to Rhairu's word, he immediately felt cold, and dehydrated. "Water... I need water..."

"Shea! You're awake. Are you alright?" Emri and Claire's faces obscured his vision of the dark sky above. "You suddenly just... passed out. I was trying to talk to you about the markings on the bases of the statues and then you just... collapsed!" Emri explained as Claire helped Shea sit up.

"I'll tell you what happened if you get me some water..." Shea's breathed out. His heart raced. Claire gave him the canteen, and water had never tasted so good. True, it was a little metallic in taste, and a little warm, but the liquid served its purpose.

Emri crouched by him, and put a hand on Shea's shoulder. "Alright. What happened?"

"I let myself go to Rhairu."

The two girls gasped, and Emri's face contorted into a mixture of concern, and anger. "Shea! Why? Do you know what would happen if he were to completely overtake your body?"

"I do know." Shea snapped back, "But he didn't make any motions to overtake me. I went to him to ask for his help. You had given me an idea, and I thought it couldn't hurt-"

"But it could have hurt! Shea, you were out for an hour. Any longer, and you could have had gotten hypothermia. An hour itself is dangerous, even at night. Claire and I nearly lost our arms because we were rubbing you ferociously to keep you warm! We were about to resort to the next alternative but..." Emri trailed off before continuing, "But what did Rhairu say?"

Shea took another gulp of water, feeling a new appreciation for Emri and Claire. "He gave me a little bit of power, but when its gone, its gone. So, I have to use it wisely."

"That you do, if Rhairu was this generous." Emri agreed.

Claire frowned. "But what happens the next time? When you need to go to Rhairu?"

"That's the problem." Shea shook his head. "I don't know what he'll do the next time. 'The next time you come to me, it will be payed with a price.'"

Emri looked at Claire, before looking at Shea worriedly. "Alright, well, let's figure out these statues." Emri grunted as she helped Shea stand.

Shea stood shakily. "Ok, Emri. What was this about the bases?"

Emri pointed to the base of one of the statues. "There's a triforce engraved on it-"

"-yeah, I know that."

"-but there are also other things that have been weathered away. Like the runes on the platform, the same type of runes are on the statues." Emri finished.

Shea walked over to the statue. Sure enough, there were runes on the statue, albeit hard to read. "Emri, can you read these?"

"Barely. And they all say the same thing: _I am empty, for time has taken it away. I am a powerless goddess, so I am weak._ I can't read it past there. The runes get too complicated."

_Great. More riddles._ Shea rolled his eyes. "Well, we should set up camp, and sleep on this. I don't want to waste any of the power that Rhairu gave me."

"Good idea."

--

The next morning, Shea was the first one up. Exiting the tent that all three of them had to share (don't get him wrong, it was very awkward indeed), he was surprised to find that he had beaten the sun. Well, more time to figure out the statue puzzle.

Walking over to the nearest one, he stared at it intently. "I am empty... I am a powerless goddess..." he muttered to himself. Shea scratched his head. "How can rock be empty?" He rested his hand on the Triforce that was engraved into the rock. "So annoying..."

"You're up early." A squeak came from behind him.

Shea turned around. "Yeah. The statues were bothering me." He stared at the fairy. "Yasl... how old are you?"

"I'm twenty, in fairy years," Yasl chirped, before asking, "Why?"

"Then you know Ancient!" Shea exclaimed excitedly. "You can read it fluently, can't you?"

The little fairy shivered nervously. "I don't know if I can remember..."

Shea pushed the fairy over to the statue, "Well, try. We already know the first part. We need you to translate the second."

"Umm... um..." Yasl hummed as he read, zooming back and forth over the runes. "_I am a powerless goddess, so I am weak. Fill me with the light, and I will do your bidding. Light is knowledge, and the absence of knowledge is darkness. Peace is the presence of light, and without peace, there is chaos."_

Shea thought, rolling it around in his head. "The last part sounds like a warning. 'Fill me with the light, and I will do your bidding,' though..." His eyes widened, "The rock is hollow... fill it with light... do my bidding. I got it! Emri, Claire, wake up!" He ran over to the tent, and started banging on the tarp. "Wake up! I figured out the riddle!"

Claire shot out of the tent, holding a stick. "Where's the fire?" She still looked dazed from sleep.

Emri stumbled out, rubbing her eyes. Shea knew that he was going to pay for such a rude awakening, but that can wait. The grey-eyed girl looked at him tiredly. "What?"

Shea, on the other hand, looked absolutely ecstatic. "The answer to the riddle! _How to make the statues move!_"

Emri waved her hand incoherently. "Yeah, yeah. Spit it out so we can- Wait, you _what? _Claire, put that stick down before you hurt someone. Shea! How'd you...?"

"I had Yasl translate the last part of the runes. It said 'Fill me with the light, and I will do your bidding.' Rhairu _is _the god of Peace and Restoration, right? The runes also said something about light being peace. They are telling me to fill the statues with Rhairu's power. Fill them with the light!"

Claire tilted her head, thoughtfully. "That actually makes sense..."

Emri looked at Shea skeptically. "Shea, you have limited access to Rhairu's power at the moment. And when that reserve is gone, you have to go to him again. And the next time you do, you have to pay a price, and we don't know what that is yet. I don't think that we should risk it..."

Shea arched an eyebrow. "Emri, are you saying that I am inept at solving riddles?"

"No, no! That's not-"

"You are!" Shea stared at Emri as she stammered. "You're _implying _it, at least."

"That's not what I'm saying at all! I'm merely saying that we should look for other options so we don't blow the only chance we got." Emri sniffed.

Shea locked his jaw, peering into Emri's eyes. "Alright. What are your ideas?"

"Well," she elongated, turning away from Shea's accusing gaze to look at a statue, "well... well..." she struggled before sighing, "I got nothing." she admitted.

Shea smirked. "So. Who was wrong?"

Emri didn't answer.

"Who wasn't right?"

"Lets just get these statues moved."

Claire laughed as Shea continued smirking and Emri continued scowling.

Emri stood off to the side, "Alright, smart-one. Do whatever it is you do..." She had already decided that today would not be a good day.

To be perfectly honest, Shea had no idea what he had to do. And he sure wasn't going to look like an idiot again. _Here goes nothing... well, everything... _Shea put his hand on the triforce, and searched for the reserve that Rhairu had given him. Ah... there it was. It was a golden pool of substance in his mind. He pushed, he pushed it... he felt it flow through his veins, and through his fingertips, and into the rock. He cut it off before it all left him. Taking a deep, hopeful breath, he removed his hand...

The triforce was glowing. The triforce on the rock was now illuminated.

"Ha_ha!" _Shea jumped into the air, punching his fist into the sky. "We did it! Yes!"

Emri looked over his shoulder, and Claire the other. They looked at each other before screaming, "Yes! Shea, go do whatever it is you did to the other two!"

"Wait." Shea stopped, "We need to see if it actually works..." he cleared his throat, "Statue of Farore."

There was a rumble, and the statue... move its head. The statue of Farore looked at him, the places where the eyes would be were now filled with green light. Shea couldn't keep from smiling. "Retake your spot on the Triforce over there... please."

The statue didn't move. Shea's shoulders fell. He was about to turn around to trudge back to the tent when there was a grinding noise. He looked up and the statue started to slide over the platform. As soon as the base crossed the line of the Courage part of the triforce, that entire section glowed.

Now very pleased with himself, Shea jogged over to Din, and repeated the process. It took this statue considerably longer to make its trip across the platform, but was able to light up its section of the triforce. Repeating the ritual with Nayru, Shea stood back as the Triforce glowed with greater intensity. There was a rumble, and the three onlookers fell to the ground. The sand shook, and the three statues glowed with their individual light. "_You have proven yourselves worthy. Enter into the Daughter's Domain."_

There was a crack, and the middle of the platform disappeared, grinding away under the rest of it, until the middle section of the Triforce was gone, leaving a large staircase. Shea, Claire, and Emri started down, but there was yet another groan from the ground: "_Only he who controls the Light may enter."_

"I think they mean you, Shea." Claire whispered in the blonde's ear.

Emri put a hand on his shoulder, "Find out what's wrong with the fairy. We'll be waiting out here. Yasl, go with him."

"Naturally." The fairy squeaked.

Descending into the darkness, Yasl took his place on Shea's shoulder. The rock shut himself away from the outside world... suddenly, he felt alone. The only light that was in the tunnel was Yasl, there, perched on his shoulder. _He's like a parrot..._ He thought dryly.

"Yasl," his voice echoed, "describe this tunnel to me. I don't want to run into any-"

Something hard hit him on the face. "... walls."

But Yasl didn't have to answer, because Shea turned his head and there was a brilliant blue light, marking the end of his underground venture. Water reached his ears, and he broke into a jog... the fairy's domain.

Blue crystal lined the walls, and came towards the center to form a pool. Water fell from the back wall down into the pool. Shea looked down when sloshing sounds were made when he walked. Yasl left his shoulder and zoomed around. "Mother?"

"Yasl! You're back!" More little yellow spheres zoomed out of hidden crevices, swirling around Yasl. Shea had a hard time keeping track of his fairy when he was surrounded by similar looking ones.

The cave seemed to explode into a million little voices as the fairies came to greet their brother. But one voice, frail as it might have been, rang out above them all. "_Clear the pool... I wish to see him..."_

The fairies went quiet and Yasl returned to Shea's shoulder. "Mother..."

A glowing yellow light descended from the source of the waterfall, and it solidified in the pool. A young woman with golden hair and eyes sat there, scantily clad in a pale yellow wrap. Shea couldn't tell if her skin was supposed to be pure white and almost translucent, or if it was a result of her getting her power drained. Because this, without doubt, was the Great Fairy of Balance.

The fairy coughed, light as a crystal bell, and gazed with those eerie eyes into Shea's own. "_So, my dear son Yasl has found you... Shea._" Her mouth didn't move, but Shea heard her voice in his mind as clearly as if she had said it. "_I'm sorry I do not talk. The Man in the Black Cloak has drained me so -and continues to- that I cannot waste what energy I have left on petty words."_

Shea opened his mouth, but was shushed by the fairy raising her hand. "_Do not talk, for we have little time. You have come here to find the Triforce before _he _does. That is well, because my Father would never allow such filthy hands on his precious Triforce." _The fairy's voice took on a haughty tone before she physically coughed again. The shimmering light around her faltered. "_Never mind me, my children. I am fine." _She reassured the fairies that swarmed around her. The fairies backed away and the Great Fairy spoke once more-

"_I am forbidden in giving the direct place where you are to find the Triforce, for the place is never the same. It all depends on you, Shea. Your journey will come out depending on your actions. Your mother, even, cannot find the place, because the future is never set in stone. Your actions will decide the fate of you, the fate of Hyrule... and the fate of your friends. You have received that dream from Rhairu a few weeks back, yes? Do not take that vision lightly. _

"_The least I can do, or all that I am enabled to do, physically and divinely, is tell and send you to the place where you will start your journey. Journey, not quest. If you think this is where your quest begins, you are quite mistaken. Your quest starts not with a place, or a task, but when you decide. Your quest is yours to find and complete. It all comes down to your actions, and your decisions." _The fairy stared at Shea, letting all she said sink into him.

Shea rolled her cryptic speech around in his mind. When he waited for her to speak, he found her staring at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something in response. "But... I don't understand everything. The dream that Rhairu sent me, your warnings..."

The fairy laughed, high, like a babbling stream before speaking, "_You aren't expected to understand it all, right now. Truth is revealed a little at a time. If it were all revealed at once, do you think that your people would be advancing like they are? One baby step at a time. That's how you get things done."_

Shea nodded, then asked intently. "What about the new evil?"

The fairy looked down, swirling her hand in the water. "_His name is Derrick, and a descendent of Ganon. You could say that he is a distant cousin of one of your friends." _She looked up into Shea's shocked eyes before continuing, "_Although, he lacks the abilities his relative does. Abilities and powers that he has always lusted after. When Derrick turned twenty," _she paused as an image swirled up from the blue depths. An inky black highlighted with fiery accents swirled until a battle scene appeared. One man was on a rearing black horse, holding a large sword. A hood was over his face. Shea watched as he cut down the Exelians that came after him. The fairy started to speak once more, "_When Derrick turned twenty, he rebelled against the Exelians. He was stopped, and arrested. As punishment, he was tried and sent into exile."_

Shea let a wry grin slip. And exiled Hylian going into exile... a bit ironic. But he listened more to Derrick's story. "_He, along with his followers, left the land that the Exelians had claimed when they themselves had been exiled. He has been wandering Hyrule and her neighboring countries, searching for power equal to the one prophesied to come into the Exelian's hands. Power that could destroy a mountain with a single glance, cause oceans to dry up with a word... because that was what Din's power was said to be able to do. Derrick couldn't find it. Until he heard of you. When you were born, he rode long and hard to Termina, searching the land until he found you and your family. Knowing that you were useless at your young age, he waited. He did research on Rhairu, and learned that his incarnate would have to be awakened. When you reached a ripe age, he continued to wait. When you left Termina, he still waited. When you were captured by Exelians, he waited, knowing that they would do the dirty work for him. And now, he is after you, and what was taken from this world. _

"_Derrick is a powerful sorcerer, having harnessed the darkest magic and even touching into necromancy, a sin in the eyes of the Heavenly Beings. He is a force to be reckoned with..." _the fairy broke off into a series of coughs, breathing hard. "_I haven't much time left... are you ready to learn where you must go?"_

Shea nodded, and the fairy once more touched the blue water lightly with her finger. A new image replaced the horrible scowl of a man with hateful, red eyes in its crystal surface... a clearing, in a dense forest. It was raining. "_This is the place where you need to go. I can send you to the nearest fairy point, but no further... Speaking and staying in this physical form for as long as I have is tiring... Pathetic, right?" _She laughed sadly. "_Go outside, and meet your friends. Yasl will remain with you. But go into the blue ring that appears at midnight tonight. That is the quickest way, and only way, I can aid you in your journey." The Great Fairy started to glow, and dissipate into the light, "You must not repeat anything I have said to you concerning you. But your friends should know of Derrick, and what they are up against. Good luck, Shea, and may Rhairu and the Goddesses be with you..."_

--

Claire and Emri paced in front of where Shea would be coming up. It had been an hour since he went down with Yasl to meet the Great Fairy of Balance. They wondered what was going on, down there... they wondered what the Great Fairy was saying to him.

Soon, with the sun overhead, the ground rumbled, and they both shot out of the tent as Shea walked out from the cavern. The rock closed up behind him, and the statues shattered, never to be used again.

"Shea! What'd she say?"

"Where do we have to go?"

"Was she absolutely tragic looking?"

"What was it like?"

Shea put his hands up as the two girls ambushed him with questions. "I'll explain everything over lunch. We have to wait until midnight to get out of here... she's using the last of her power to send us away."

"What?!" Emri exclaimed, "But then she'll..."

Shea looked at Yasl, who hadn't said anything since the fairy appeared. Emri followed his gaze, and looked at the fairy sadly. "Yasl, I'm so sorry..."

Yasl shook, "She won't die... it's alright. I just hate seeing her in that state. And it will take a millennia for her to rest and get her powers back..." he sighed.

Claire rubbed her hands together, "Well, lets get that food cooking. Shea, start explaining now, because I have a feeling you have a lot to tell us."

--

"...so, let me get this straight. Derrick, the bad guy, is a relative of a certain person, who has always envied his distant cousin-"

"- also known as, _Blaize._" Claire cut in with sing-song tone.

"- and is now using dark magic, necromancy, and is searching for you, and the Triforce? Jeeze, this guy sure is ambitious." Emri finished, but not without a glare at Claire, who was shoving the jackrabbit meat into her mouth. "But nonetheless, we need to be on our toes. Who knows what kind of connections he has. His spies could be everywhere..."

Claire snorted. "This _jackrabbit _could have been a spy! One down, many to go!" She laughed maniacally.

Shea grinned, shaking his head while laughing a little bit. "Claire..."

"What? It's probably true." She muttered as she ripped the meat off of the bone with her teeth.

"But yeah. That's the basic gist of it." Shea looked at Emri. "I think we should take shifts until midnight. I don't want to miss the portal."

Emri nodded, "Good idea. I volunteer Claire to stay up first." She grinned as Claire, cheeks stuffed full, turned her head to face her. Claire tried to look angry, but her chipmunk cheeks made Emri burst into laughter. Shea chuckled as he stood up to go into the tent to rest up.

_**Alright. Leave some reviews now! Or else I'm not giving you the next chapter... **_


	7. Lies

**_Oh my goodness... I am going to say this right now: I hate filler chapters. And what's worse, I can't even remember which people I am supposed to review-reply to... so, if I miss you, my deepest apologies!_**

**_Gabbiez: ...I didn't know our writing styles could be picked apart! Yeah, -Kat- helped me with that one bit, because I was having trouble getting it started. Writer's block, you know? _**

**_Zinachu: I appreciate your fangirl-isms! It's ok... I'm guilty of fangirl-screaming, too. _**

**_Anna-person: What were you doing staying up that late!? Seriously, I am in awe of your ability to stay focused on my writing for that long... _**

**_And now, without further adiu... _**

**_--_**

**Chapter 7**

Zelda exhaled, and opened her eyes slowly. She felt the council's anxious gazes on her, awaiting her reaction to the news. It was ridiculous... it was almost unreal and unbelievable. An army of monsters had been reported early this morning... tearing over the back country-side, burning everything in their path... it was heart-wrenching, knowing that she couldn't do anything to stop them now. She glanced over at Link, who was standing dutifully against a wall on her right side. If anything, he was her most trusted advisor, when it came to these kinds of matters. The council only knew economics, and court politics. Link knew strategy, and she could easily discuss what was going on the heavens with him, as well as many other things.

"Your Highness?" An elderly woman leaned forward, "A word?"

"Monsters like that normally don't thrive in huge numbers like that..." Zelda mumbled, as if not hearing the councilwoman.

Link nodded, "The beasts that were reported are normally solitary creatures, hunting and attacking on their own."

"But what would cause these monsters to unite?" A man said forcefully, "Ever since Ganondorf disappeared, we've been plagued with the Exelians. Now do we have to worry about a new force that is driving these beasts to attack us?"

Zelda sighed, and rubbed her temples, "Yes. Yes, we do."

She felt the stress in the room thicken as she was immediately assaulted by the council screaming at her-

"We need to set up our defenses!" "There's no time for that. Evacuate the civilians to Kakariko immediately!" "That would take too long as well. I agree with Barnes: we need to set up a barrier against the castle town!"

The room exploded into argument as Zelda continued rubbing her forehead, casting a weary smile towards Link, who had straightened up and moved to the table. He proceeded to slam his fist down on the table.

"This is ridiculous!" He bellowed, catching the attention of the council, "Instead of arguing about what we could do, why aren't we putting both ideas into use? The sooner we strengthen ourselves, the better of a chance we'll stand."

Barnes stood up to challenge Link, "But half of our military is out patrolling the border."

"Call them back." Link simply stated. "We can leave a few runners and scouts to give us news every day. We need to be training our entire militia with the techniques to take care of these monsters."

"And who would? Who has the experience with these beasts?" Another councilman asked.

"Me." Link's eyes bore into the asker.

The room was filled with an empty silence as they all challenged Link's patronizing glare. Zelda felt the air thicken with tension, the council not wanting to put their trust in this lone warrior, their country in the hands of a rogue, but Link had never lost a battle with his eyes.

A chorus of sighs echoed finally. "As of today, I elect Trace to take control of the Hylian Army. Any opposed speak now." Zelda said boldly.

There was silence.

Link stood up and crossed his arms smugly. Zelda had to keep from laughing. "So this meeting is adjourned." She stood and walked out of the room, Link following her.

"I'm impressed." Zelda commented as she walked beside him. "I don't think the council has ever been beat that easily."

Link looked very smug. "I have my uses, yes?"

Looking around, Zelda swiftly pulled him into an empty corridor. "That you do. But I have to tell you something that I _didn't _tell the council."

"What?" Link's eyebrows furrowed. "What is it? Is it something about Shea? Rhairu?"

The princess shook her head. "Derrick. He's formed an alliance with Lavinar. Turned them against us... I got the Decree of War two days ago." She looked down.

"What! Why? How could he turn them against us? Isn't Lavinar our largest ally?" Link looked panicked. "Why didn't you tell me when you got the decree?"

"They think we've been invading in on their borders. Little by little, we've been taking their land." Zelda shook her head, "I didn't tell you because I wanted to make sure that they were positive. That they were willing to carry it out. I don't remember giving orders to invade! And I've gone through all the battle plans with the general many times. There were no entries in his log of invasion."

"How? How then? They have no proof!" Link had to lower his voice to a harsh whisper.

"Actually, Link, they do." Zelda said sadly. "Our standard was found at the scene of one of the raids, along with Hylian armor. Derrick's done something. I know he has."

"Necromancy." Link said without any thought.

"The purest evil under the Hylian skies." Zelda finished. "My theory is that he called up the fallen soldiers from the past, and used them to attack. But the king of Lavinar wouldn't believe me, and the council definitely wouldn't. They're anti-superstitious..." Zelda broke off into an exasperated sigh, running a hand through her hair. "This is turning out to be more-"

She was cut off by Link kissing her gently. She sank into it gratefully, putting her hands on Link's chest. They pulled away, and he tousled her hair. "Feel better, now?"

"Much." Zelda nodded, before continuing, "But we still need to figure out what to do with Derrick. No doubt he's brainwashing the Lavinar king, and gaining control over the very country."

"Zelda, love, the only reason Lavinar allied with us is because our army is stronger than theirs. Do you remember the day when the king came here, asking for the alliance? Syrea was attacking them, and they needed extra backup." Link reminded the princess.

"Yes, but that was years ago. Who knows how strong they could have gotten in that amount of time?"

"Do I need to kiss you again?" Link said sternly before giving Zelda a gentle hug, "Everything's going to be fine. Shea, Claire, and Emri are going to find the Triforce before Derrick, and we'll take care of Lavinar."

"Link... you're forgetting one detail. The Exelians."

Link stared at her with a frown.

"They _will _attack again. They _will _come after Shea again. And they will stop at _nothing _to get what they want. So, we're dealing with Lavinar, an army of monsters and possibly the undead, and the Exelians."

Link's frown deepened. "I'm starting to think Shea got the easy end of everything."

And then Zelda got a sly smile on her lips. "But, I do think I am a bit overstressed..." she hinted by tapping her lips. Link rolled his eyes and swept her up in another kiss.

"Careful, or my lips'll get swollen again."

"Goddesses forbid that your lips become swollen."

--

"Three... two... one... NOW."

And then he was all wet. Really, really, wet. Shea wiped the liquid away from his eyes and he glared up at the two girls that were holding a bucket over him... that had been filled with water. "I want to know two things. Where'd you get the bucket, and why'd you dump water all over me?" He snapped.

"Simple." Emri cocked her hip, "Revenge for waking me up so rudely yesterday."

"Hardy-har-har." Shea drawled, sitting up. "Congratulations."

Emri smiled as he shook his head ferociously in an attempt to get the loose droplets out of his hair. "Well, hurry up and get dry so we can spar. You need the practice, and I feel like kicking your butt."

"Who says you'll kick my butt?" He snapped again, frowning up at Emri.

"Says me." Emri said haughtily, extending her bo-staff as she walked out of the door. "Five minutes, Shea."

Shea grumbled as he stood up, meeting Claire straight in the eyes. The girl waved, still holding the bucket. Shea grunted in response. Claire frowned, but passed off his grumpiness as lack of sleep.

Shea milled about in the tent for his sword, grumbling incoherent phrases. He began to throw random object over his shoulder, clearing areas for where his sword should be.

When he found it, he looked at his reflection in the blade. Shea saw bruise-like shadows under his eyes; and the eyes themselves looked exhausted, but strangely awake... fierce, and angry. He paid no heed to it as he walked out of the tent.

Claire was outside, blowing on a freshly started fire. There was a sharp pang in his head when he saw someone else sitting next to a pile of wood, snapping his fingers and a roaring fire appeared.

Shea blinked and saw only Claire again. He pushed the thought from his mind as he went to meet Emri. He swung his sword around loosely, circling the girl who had taken a defensive pose. "I'll have you know that it'll be you looking up at me from the flat of your back." Shea stated.

Emri snorted, "Please." And then she leapt at him.

Shea raised his sword and pushed her away, swinging it down as she jabbed for his shins, hoping to unsettle his footing. Parry up, left, right, center, down, right, right, left...

Emri's face twisted into a confused expression as Shea seemed to be one step ahead of her each time. She didn't notice that he was steadily pushing her backwards, and she had moved into defense while he stepped into offense. And all the while, his face was stoic as ever.

She let out an 'oof' when she backed into a tree, and the cold tip of the sword rested on her collar bone. She breathed hard, looking into Shea's glazed over ones, and laughed weakly. "Well, it's _not _from my back."

Shea removed his sword and sighed as he walked away. "I'm done," he merely stated, throwing his sword down near the tent and disappearing inside of it.

Claire looked worriedly at Emri, who sat down next to her. "Has Shea ever beaten you?"

Emri shook her head, "But what was strange, is that he seemed to have made no effort at all. It was like... child's play." She stared at the tent flap. "I couldn't feel his emotions, either."

Claire traced patterns in the dirt with a stick. "Maybe, it was wrong for us to wake him up so suddenly."

"Maybe." Emri agreed, "I mean, I understand if he's tired... it was a long day yesterday." She felt guilty. But she couldn't help but feel like this wasn't going to end soon.

--

His headache hurt. Shea had curled up on his mat cradling his head. It hadn't been long since he had sparred with Emri... ten minutes, maybe.

He drew in a hissing breath when his head throbbed again. His head felt heavy, like it was full of gravel.

Shea tried to open his eyes, but white dots flashed in his vision, hurting his head even more at the strain his eyes took to focus. He closed them again.

He laid there for what seemed like a thousand years, shivering. Maybe he was getting a fever. That would explain the headache. The thought of asking Emri for help often crossed his mind, but it always made him clench his teeth and push it away. He didn't need help. He was perfectly fine.

The throbbing in his head was so loud... it grew in volume until it drowned on all of his thoughts. He violently rolled over to the other side, beads of sweat sliding across and down his face and onto the mat. His nails dug into his scalp, trying to cause more pain than this headache.

This was no fever.

"Shea?"

Shea winced when Claire's voice echoed loudly inside his head.

"Shea! Shea, what's wrong?" Claire knelt down beside him, putting a hand on his forehead. It felt cold... it felt good.

"Nothing is wrong!" He snapped, nonetheless. "I'm fine."

Claire frowned, "But you're burning up!"

"I said I'm fine!" He yelled fiercely, sitting up. But he immediately regretted both actions for two reasons. One, it made his head spin. And two, Claire looked hurt. But she didn't say anything as she stood and said quietly-

"If you need anything, we're outside." And exited the tent.

Shea groaned and laid back down, cradling his head once more.

--

"Did you hear that?" Claire said incredulously as she promptly sat down next to Emri.

Emri was staring at the tent flap, and nodded, "Yeah..."

"Seriously! I don't understand it." Claire scoffed, picking up a stick and throwing it into the fire. "He's burning up and nearly tearing his hair out, and he says he's _fine? _Fine, my ass!" She sniffed, and crossed her arms indignantly.

"Well," Emri cracked her knuckles absentmindedly, "when Shea doesn't want help, he doesn't want it. So, we'll just let him be."

--

Shea bit his thumbnail angrily as he stared into the fire. He wasn't angry for any particular reason. He just _felt _angry.

He ignored Claire's constant glare, and Emri's worried stare. He really didn't understand why Claire was glaring at him, first of all. But he wished she would stop.

He curtly stood up, and grunted, "I'm going to find some more firewood."

"Alright." Emri said. "Be careful."

Shea walked off as if he didn't hear her. Claire's glare followed him even until after he disappeared into the trees.

"Claire, why are you still glaring?"

"I want to make sure my dislike follows him."

"...you do that." Emri drawled, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the smoke column to where it blended with the sky... it looked like it was going to rain soon.

Claire huffed. "So, what are your theories?"

"About what?"

"Species: Incarnateus Blondus Idiotus. Also known as Shea."

Emri snorted at the name before looking to where the afore mentioned boy had disappeared. "That's what worries me. I don't know."

Claire threw a twig into the fire. "Well, this sucks."

--

The ground he walked on rumbled with each step; lightning was cast from his eyes as he looked down at his Hyrule. Yes. _His _Hyrule. The very one he had created, and blessed.

And how did the people thank him?

By doing everything they weren't supposed to.

Rhairu roared, and threw a lightning sphere across the celestial room before slamming his hands down on the giant mirror that allowed him to view the entire world. He moved his hand across it, dragging the image to a new area, and leered down with his angry, golden eyes.

It was Shea, walking alone in the forest. Rhairu's lip curled up, and he let out a hiss that leaned more on the growling edge. That boy needed to learn. He was defeating the who purpose of this quest.

He changed the scene to a desert. The Exelian fortress. Rhairu could remember when it had been inhabited by an honorable group of female thieves. The Gerudos, he remembered them being called. But then they started to _breed _with those exiled Hylians, and look at them now... the Exelians had spread like rabbits.

He scoffed. Breed... that's exactly what they did. And they tainted his once pure land.

Then, he saw the rogue Exelian. Rhairu's lips curled up in a snarl. How dare he? How dare he try to claim the powers of the gods for himself? Hadn't he learned from history that they were simply too much for the human capacity? But no. And he had to go for the one thing that Rhairu cherished most high above all of Hyrule-

His beautiful daughters.

The Great Fairies of Hyrule. Another one was being held victim to the horrible torture of having her power and wisdom sucked from her. Rhairu watched as she struggled, watched as her power was taken as the rogue stood their, chanting. And Rhairu could do nothing to save her.

With an angry growl, Rhairu waved his hand across the pool again, blowing. The water rippled, changing. He saw the Hylian army, and the Hero of Time, training. Rhairu looked curiously down... at least the previous owner of the triforce of courage was actually worth reconsidering... But that was Farore's choice. Rhairu could only voice his opinion.

And then there was the fair Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Yes... Another one that Rhairu wouldn't mind giving the triforce back to. The current one -Emri, was it?- was very stubborn. And hot-headed. That simply would not do. Not with his triforce.

But again, that was his sister's choice.

"Bah," Rhairu spat as he turned away from the pool. He often wondered if worrying about the fate of Hyrule was even worth it anymore. It seemed as if the people didn't care about what happened to their beautiful country. For all they cared, the Exelians could overtake them.

But Rhairu wouldn't. He knew that Hyrule had been his creation, had been his pride and joy. He had given his sisters instruction on exactly where he wanted things, how he wanted things to look. He had had a vision of a perfect world.

What a lie that turned out to be.


	8. Breakdown

**_Ok. Before you read, you must know that my dear cousin -Kat- wrote this chapter. I seriously am VERY grateful for this, because I had no idea where I was going with this entire story until she wrote this out on a random burst of inspiration. Seriously, she nailed this right on the head. _**

**_Rilricks: Ok, dude. I loved your review. YAY. I got a double-o sooper!! That made my day. _**

**_Rebel: Thanks for your review!_**

**_Gabbiez: Your reviews are my favorites to read. Because one, you seem to hit all the major discussion points that -Kat- and I talk about (get off our brainwave!); and two, you find the points that I hide in there for analytical readers like you. Don't worry... -Kat- and I are putting something special for you to figure out soon enough..._**

**Chapter 8**

Another string of foul profanities burned like acid through the air, tainting its purity enclosed within the fresh forest, dripping and oozing until the sounds reached Claire's ears.

She winced.

He… had had never been so vulgar until lately. It made Claire's heart ache. Since leaving the castle, blocked from the soothing comfort, and even the knowledge of, his triforce had given him, Shea had become a different person.

Shea let out a frustrated grunt, though it sounded more like a growl. He rubbed the sticks together furiously, attempting at a spark. He became madder still when he felt the air grow damp; it was going to rain soon.

His eyes darkened at the thought that _Blaize_, in all his damn-pyro glory, could have started this fire in the blink of an eye; even if it was raining.

Lip curling in disgust, Shea cursed his former comrade's name and everything about him—everything that existed with him and after him. After all, it was the traitor's fault they were in this mess…

"Hey, Shea?" Can I… help?"

Claire. She had been probing around him the last week, trying to "assist" him. It was getting old.

"No." The answer was so simple. Why didn't she get it?

The green-eyed girl bit her lip. "Why not?"

Shea sighed, putting down his sticks to give her an annoyed look. Each time she had asked this question, or one similar to it, he had responded in the same way:

"Because, Claire, I don't _need _your help, or anyone else's. _Ever_." Except this time, fed up with her incessant pestering, he made it much more scathing; a cruel twist poisoning his tone.

She appeared very affronted, and suddenly hurt. It gave him a sick sort of satisfaction to end up triumphant. At least, it did until she rapidly glared at him with such ferocity that he nearly cringed.

"Shea," she hissed, voice low, "how _dare_ you talk to me like that! I hate having to walk on eggshells around you all the time!" She clenched a handful of her hair. "The truth is, Sir Demi-God, even _you_ need help—stop trying to make yourself believe otherwise! Emri and I are here for you, Shea," she stressed his name, "but you have to start trusting us again."

Hearing the name of the third member of their group, Shea lazily turned his head towards Emri, who was watching the conversation with a contemplative frown.

Shea looked back at Claire, blinking when he saw a glassy sheen over her emerald eyes. A flare of irritation rose up within him: why was she about to cry?

"Look at yourself Claire," Shea said bitingly, placing a thumb under one of her eyes. "Can you afford to help yourself? You shouldn't even be out here—Emri either. You two are just going to get in my—"

"Oh! So I'm—we're—a liability now?!" Claire shouted indignantly, clenching her fists.

Shea rolled his eyes. She was overreacting. "Calm down," he drawled, as though it wasn't worth his time to have this conversation. "You're so—"

Claire gave a loud shriek of protest, angry tears gathering in her eyes at his inability to listen. "Listen to yourself!" she hollered at him. "Since when did you ever talk to one of your friends like this?" She took a few breaths and smiled bitterly.

"Are we not worth your time anymore, _great one_? Are you tired of fighting with us? _For_ us? Are you going to betray us too?!"

Shea's jaw clenched as he reached out and gripped Claire's upper arm. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he snarled.

Wincing at how hard he was holding her arm, Claire stifled a cry. He was _hurting_ her… "You… you're worse than Blaize right now," she breathed at him, "…worse than the Exelian King, than any of those damn—"

"Claire," Shea's tone was deadly. "Don't even _think_ about comparing me to them. Get those thoughts out of your filthy, corrupted mind. I am _nothing_ like them!"

"Really? What are you doing right now, eh? Degrading me, our trust… and it's true!" she argued, sniffing. "You know it!"

"_Shuttup_!" The word was so fierce sounding, so frightening in its connotation that Claire almost didn't notice his eyes in the verbal distraction…

They were glowing a noxious yellow-white now, accentuated by a mouth pulled back at the corners in disdain. As she looked in them, Claire felt the pit of her stomach drop from beneath her in pure terror. In those eyes she saw nothing but a sadistic malice, and she remembered every hurt… every pain… every failure she had lived through.

Claire's mouth dropped in a silent yell, ripping her arm out of his hand. This was not Shea… he wasn't her Shea.

That was when she started to run. Those eyes… she wasn't good enough. Her wrist was caught for a moment and she heard his voice by her ear; a nauseating dread filled her—it wasn't his voice either.

"Where's your courage now?" it said to her, the inquiry hurting more than her arm when she again yanked it away.

So caught up in her escaping was she, that Claire almost didn't catch the resounding _crack_ that was made when Emri's fist connected with Shea's jaw. She'd have to thank the girl later...

But for now Claire ran, ran through her own tears and her own hurt and her own failure. She couldn't bring him back… but then, he never really came back. Vaguely, as she continued to rush blindly past the blackness of the forest, Claire wondered when it had started to rain…

--

Shea was sure he heard something pop. Great Nayru! Emri hit hard! Rubbing his jaw, Shea scowled at the chestnut-haired girl, wondering why she looked like she wanted to murder him.

"Have you no shame?" she shouted at him, eyes flickering when she brushed her wet bangs from her face. "What's your problem?!"

Shea stared at her blearily. "Wha…?" His head hurt. And he was all wet—when did it start to rain? Why was she screaming at him again? It was like he had just woken up… painfully.

"…can't believe you had the audacity to say some of those things! Have you honestly lost it? She's been _more_ than patient with you all week, and then you go and snap?!"

Shea's brow furrowed. "Emri, slow down. I don't know what you're—" he stopped himself, noticing that a certain presence was missing. "Where's Claire?"

Emri seemed to be fighting very hard not to punch him again. "What kind of idiotic…" she trailed off in a strained voice, struggling to gain some control of her anger. She gazed at him in disbelief a few moments, gray eyes scanning his face. "…you really don't know?"

"All I know is that my jaw is practically immobilized, my head's about to split open, and Claire's gone," reasoned Shea in exasperation, feeling slight pricklings of contempt at Emri's unexcused condescending behavior.

Emri stared at him tiredly, a softness coming back to her normally gentle eyes. "Shea," she started sternly, "Claire ran away."

Shea felt confused for a few seconds, before a panic began to settle in. "What? Why? Did she get hurt—did something attack us? Why can't I—"

"Shea! She… she ran away from you."

Emri's eyes bore into him, and Shea felt an eerie calmness seep through his skin, gliding between his bones and muscles with an ease that left him feeling numb. Then it was like he was struck with a jolt of electricity that burned and sparked against his whole body; tweaking at his toes and singeing the tips of his hair.

He _remembered_. He remembered growling and complaining at her, twisting what she was trying to offer into something cruel for his favor. He remembered hurting her, whispering discriminating words in her ear. He remembered her eyes… her beautiful, breathtaking green eyes that enraptured him each time he met them with his own, and how they had filled with bitter, salty tears.

Shea felt his face drain of blood, knees quaking under his weight. Why had he been so awful to someone as sweet and caring as Claire? Why had he scared her?

He looked at Emri with the unasked question on his tongue. The corners of her lips turned down.

"As of now, I'm suspecting Rhairu."

"How would he have anything to do with me freaking out on Claire? He blocking his powers from me, remember?"

Emri folded her arms. "Yes, but naturally his essence still is upon you, and you've been irritable this last week, a probability of Rhairu's discomfort. And you have to remember that since your encounter with him in the desert, he's opened a pinhole, you might say. But today… well, if something happened to really put him in a rage, as in, escalating beyond normal, then his anger would find some way to leak through the barriers he set inside you… and then your body would have some sort of reaction to your own mood, the contrasting strength of the barriers, and the anger of the god."

Shea stared. He sometimes wondered if she thought about things like that beforehand—who was _that_ smart?

"I guess that makes sense…" trailed Shea thoughtfully as Emri nodded. "But what could she have said to set me off?"

Emri clucked her tongue, hesitating. "She compared you to Blaize and the other Exelians."

Shea groaned softly. "It got that bad?" he asked in despair. "What was I saying to her that would cause her to have that reaction?"

Emri shook her head. "You don't want to know. And I'm not telling you." She put a hand on Shea's shoulder comfortingly. "Remember, Shea, you were under Rhairu's anger at the time."

Shea's eyes narrowed. Didn't the God of Balance realize the effects and consequences of losing his mighty temper? It was so frustrating. And then there was the sheer stress gouged from the Blaize incident.

"Maybe Claire's right," Shea said, frowning. "Maybe I am like that traitor. Argh! And if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in this hell of a mess!"

Emri glared when Shea's eyes flashed. "Hey," she said warningly, "I'm not dismissing the things he's done or anything, but not everything is Blaize's fault, Shea." She gave him a rough shove towards the trees. "Take responsibility for your own damn actions!"

Shea felt worried again. It wasn't often that Emri swore…

"Go find Claire and bring her back!" Emri pointed to the left. "She went that way. Now hurry, I'm sick of your pity-party and accusations."

Shea didn't hesitate another second after seeing the intensity in his friend's eyes; he would have to tell her thank you for this… Emri always seemed to know what to do. But he really must have messed up.

Taking off into the thick woods from the clearing he had been in, Shea ignored the stinging wetness of the trees' branches as he plowed against them. _Claire… be safe until I find you._

--

Emri sighed, shivering as the wind picked up, stinging her already freezing body. The rain also grew more torrent, and she was forced to unwrap the folded cloak from around her waist to put over her shoulders.

This whole thing had gotten tiring. All she had hoped for was to find Shea and help him reach Hyrule; to try and give her some light in the murky situation she lived in, not realizing how she could _feel_ other people and_ see_ so many things. But complexities and technicalities aroused more often than she could count, and, well… here they were.

She sat down at the base of a tree between some upturned roots to get as much of her self out of the rain as possible.

Her eyes roamed to where both Claire and Shea had run from. It pained her that two people of such promise and strength had to go through things like this. They would continue to do so, too. It was inevitable.

And herself? Well, she had been through her share of hardships. Emri brought her knees up to her chest upon pondering. But now it was a single incident that continuously wracked on her mind; on all of their minds, most likely.

Feh. That _idiot_. Did he have any idea what his absence was doing to their group? Without the other member of the triforce, tension naturally thickened… but when that other member purposefully left, the said tension was at an extreme.

It had been on both Claire and Shea's minds when they argued, throwing out his name as if it were taboo. And she wasn't faring any better.

Emri grimaced. How long had she known, now… now that she… Emri cut herself off when something flashed across her mind—followed by a deep, layered red.

Grabbing her staff, Emri leapt up, looking around wildly while shielding her eyes from the downpour.

What had that been? Some sort of warning signal? She stepped out with one foot, her shoe slipping easily over the slick grass and mud. Her eyes remained alert.

"Alright," Emri growled out over the pattering of the rain—now she was sure she had sensed another presence, "Come out!"

She waited a moment, listening for any rustlings in the brush; looking for any movements disturbing the trees. Nothing. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. Had her mind played a trick on her? That red… No. She was getting paranoid.

Sitting back down, Emri looked around warily. Maybe she was just tired, physically and mentally. Hopefully Shea and Claire were doing better than she.

--

Claire didn't know how long she had been standing, leaning her shoulder against a tree, and getting poured on; quite frankly, she didn't care. Thunder rolled off in the distance, the low, unsteady rumblings reflecting her uncertainty in all matters.

Was she a horrible person now? She had said some terrible things to Shea, fully realizing the extent to which he would be bothered.

Something had obviously been wrong with him, but she hadn't at all tried to figure out what, or why he had been acting with such hostility. There definitely was, and could still be, something wrong with him, and here she was. Crying. How pitiful…

But then, in her defense, he had been just as horrible to her! She looked up, narrowing her eyes into the distance, watching as many leaves were forced down to the soggy ground when they were pelted by the bullet-like rain drops. Sure, he had been in a bad mood recently, but that didn't mean he had any right to talk to her like she was less than him—like she could be stepped on as if she were some sort of vile insect. It was preposterous.

Her hands were shaking now, and Claire suddenly noticed that she was freezing. Well, she had realized she was cold before, but she had been numb to it while thinking. She imagined them, her hands, locked within Shea's hands, herself leaning against him…

She frowned. Ever since she had come to qualms about her love for Shea, she had been lavishing in any compassion from him. It still was disturbing to her that she was actually in love at the tender age of sixteen… she wasn't sure she was quite ready for the sheer commitment that _just_ loving someone would take. What if they got in fights like this often? She wasn't sure her heart could take it.

Claire ran a thumb down the water-smoothed bark of the tree she was leaning against, tracing idle symbols in the thick wood. Her ears twitched when she heard the sloshing of stumbling footsteps, and her name being called.

"Claire!" Her chest constricted. Oh no. Not now—she wasn't ready to confront him yet. She tried to run, but her legs had gone stiff with the cold and it took her a moment to get started, and by then _he_ grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "Claire, wait," he pleaded, "just wait."

He held desperation in his voice, and Claire was forced to look at him, guilt propelling the movement. Her eyes fell upon his face, and that guilt, still mingling with her anger, intensified. He looked so… _sad_. "Shea…" she began uncertainly.

Shea shook his head, water droplets flinging off his blonde hair as he interrupted her. "Listen, Claire. I… I don't know what I was thinking—"

"Obviously!" She pulled her hand from his grasp, controlling her guilt now. "Shea, you _weren't_ thinking. You… I just," her voice broke angrily, and she stared intensely at the ground, at the pools of water gathering around their shoes.

Shea surprised her by grabbing at her wrist again, and she was about to pull away and yell at him to stop trying to restrain her, when he pulled her whole form against his, wrapping his arms around her back. Her muscles slackened, and she melted into his embrace. He was a very good hugger.

"I really didn't comprehend what I was saying, you know."

"Mmm?" Claire's head was foggy. He was so warm.

"And I promise I'll make it up to you…"

Her mind cleared up in an instance. She gave a frustrated yell as she pushed away from him, ignoring his bewildered look. "Then apologize!" she screamed, glaring. "You can't just say everything is going to be fine now… we're bound to fight again. _Tell me you're sorry_."

Shea licked his lips and Claire crossed her arms. She knew he had never been good at apologizing; it was an issue of pride that existed in most males, but Shea wasn't one who normally did things wrong and therefore hadn't had much practice at it… Well, now was the time to finally mature. He could not simply state the matter to be okay when it most certainly was not.

"Claire… I…"

"Yes?" she pressed.

He closed his eyes, sighing. "I'm a complete jerk and I had no right to talk or treat you like I did. You were only trying to help and I brushed you off, and when you spoke the truth I let my own arrogance get the better of me." He opened his eyes and looked into her own, the soft violet color gleaming. "I have been absolutely insufferable these past weeks and… and you have been nothing but perfect. I'm sorry, Claire. Can you please forgive me?"

Claire smiled, wondering if he had been working on that whilst trying to find her.

"I hope you can forgive me, too, because—" he swallowed here, and Claire was surprised to find there was more. She watched as his face flushed during his pregnant pause. "I…I can't seem to stop myself from falling in love with you."

Her green eyes widened as her body froze. Claire was sure Shea was saying something again, but she couldn't hear him. It was like time had stopped. She was sure she looked foolish at this moment… Then she noticed he was still talking. Why? Nothing else he said would have much relevance.

"Shea, be quiet," she ordered, still in a dazed stupor. Even to her the words sounded slurred. He raised an eyebrow.

"…Are you alright?"

She decided not to speak anymore. Leaning forward and coming to stand on her toes, Claire pressed her lips against his in a chaste kiss, almost smiling when his face went red, even in the cool of the rain. Hmm… she had always wondered what it would be like to kiss in the rain. Well, it had been better than even the last time. "I forgive you," she said quietly.

The sun seemed to wink at her from atop the trees as it sank in the sky. They should be heading back now… Emri might be worried something had happened to them. She intertwined her fingers with his and started to walk. "Let's go."

"Wait… was that kiss a yes, then?"

Claire paused, blinking. Oh dear… she must have missed something. "Pardon?"

Shea had a wicked glint in his eyes; something, unfortunately, that Claire missed. "So, yes, you'll marry me?"

Jaw dropping in horror, Claire clapped her hands around her mouth and spun to face him. Her face burned. Marriage? She wasn't ready to be married! How had she ignored him asking this?! "_What_?"

Shea's grin grew until he was laughing. He reached over to pat her on the head. "I was joking, Claire. I knew you hadn't been listening… and hey, you left it wide open."

She could breathe again. Heavens… "That wasn't very funny," she glared at him venomously. Although, inside, she was struggling to contain her own amusement.

The blonde gave her a smug look. "On the contrary, my dear, it was hilarious." He placed his hand in Claire's hand again and this time walked along with her. She smiled at him, totally innocent. She'd get him back later.

**_Okay. Reviews would be nice, please! I'm not giving you the next chapter unless I get lots of reviews! Yes, I'm looking at you lurkers... muwahah._**


	9. Damsels in Distress

**_Wooow, I loved those reviews the most. Thanks, guys! Big round of applause for Kat! whooo_**

**_Rebel: Yes, 'nuff said. _**

**_Gabbiez: Hahaha... funny you should mention a book. We're both kind of working on one right now... a collaberative one that's been on hiatus for a while, and one each on our own (although, we're each others' personal editors)._**

**_Rilricks: Hahaha, just wait for it..._**

**_Zinachu: Isn't he? He's kind of scaring me a bit, too... and I'm the one writing this things. Crazy, aint it?_**

**_--_**

**Chapter 9**

"I want you tell me a few things, and then I'll let you go. Is that so hard of a thing to ask for?"

Emri couldn't see where she was. But what she did know was that she was tied to something --a chair, maybe?-- and that a blindfold was over her eyes. "Who are you?"

"That information is irrelevent to the situation." The same icy voice --most deffinately a man's voice-- answered back in annoyance.

"It has everything to do with the situation!" Emri snapped back, turning her head in the direction she _thought _the voice was coming from.

Something then smacked her very hard on the cheek. The impact sent her head reeling, jumbling her thoughts. "Don't talk back to me." The voice growled.

After regaining her focus, Emri tried to squirm free of the ropes tying her arms together. The voice chuckled, "Your friend here is much more submissive."

A prickle of fear --not her own-- was felt in Emri's mind. "Claire! Where is she?" She felt anger rip through her throat in a snarl that carried the question through the air.

The voice laughed, cold and dark. "She's right next to you. Hasn't made a sound since she woke up. Unlike you. Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. And if you don't answer, I have ways of getting you to talk."

"Who are you!?"

Someone gripped her hair tightly, pulling up; her scalp screamed. "I didn't ask my question." But the voice sighed, and released, before continuing in annoyance. "What's on your mind? I'd rather you not have any outbursts and interruptions."

Fine. If this person wasn't going to tell her he was, a new question. Emri chewed on her lip. "How did we get here?"

"I couldn't tell you. Why don't you see for yourself?"

"See--?" Emri was cut off as sudden, vivid imagery exploding in front of her eyes...

--

She had been sleeping rather peacefully. Ever since Claire and Shea had returned from the forest, she had been more at ease. Yes, it was still raining. Yes, it was cold. But now that her friends were at a peace of mind, her mind was at peace, as well.

Emri's eyebrows furrowed as she opened her eyes. Something had broken into her meditation --also known as sleep. She sat up, looking around... she started to inch her hand slowly towards her bo-staff.

"Emri."

She snapped her head around, but sighed in relief when she saw Shea in an equally tense position. He was watching her carefully, "What did you feel?"

"That's the weird thing. I feel nothing." Emri whispered, looking around. "Wake up Claire. I'm going to check on things." She stood up, and extended her bo-staff before taking a few cautionary steps into the forest. She peered around the trees, whacked a few bushes, before continuing on. The forest was quiet all around her... no crickets, no birds, no bats... even the sound of the rain had stopped.

Emri poked a bush with her bo-staff, before giving the area one last sweep with her eyes. "Huh..." she huffed, turning back around. Maybe it was just her being paranoid... after what she felt earlier when Shea had left to go find Claire.

And then she felt like the world was crushing down on her. She couldn't breathe; she couldn't move. It was like a giant hand had clasped its grasp around her, cutting off all movement and oxygen. Oxygen that she desperately needed.

She fought passing out as she saw images creep out of the bushes and trees; grotesque, distorted faces and bodies that seemed like they would only appear in nightmare.

With a passing breath, Emri realized what was going on. Dead creatures… dark magic… and then her memory faded.

--

"Do you understand now? Will you allow me to ask my questions without any interruptions?"

Emri grumbled, fidgeting against her bonds. "I'd like to know who you are…"

"All in good time, my dear." The voice was closer, to her right. She heard Claire whimper beside her. "That Shea is quite the fighter, despite how skinny he is."

Emri's heart stopped. What happened to Shea? Where was he?

"Tell me, my dear, what kind of connection does the boy share with Rhairu?" Emri could trace curiosity in the man's voice. She glared behind the blindfold.

"You haven't heard?" She drawled.

The man laughed. "Oh, I've heard. But I want to hear it from his closest friends. What connection does Shea share with the God of Restoration and Balance?"

Suddenly, Emri felt her mind go sluggish, and lethargic. "He's… Shea's…" she shook her head, her mind becoming clear again. "I'm not telling you anything!"

A finger placed itself under her chin, forcing her to look up. "Pity. You have such a pretty face."

Emri could feel heat near her cheek, and her heart started to pound. "What…?"

"I told you, I have ways of making you talk. But I found out a while ago that the way to break you is through your mind." The heat disappeared, and a new image appeared in front of her eyes.

There was Blaize… he was staring at her. She stared back. And then she saw him turn away, and leave, fading into black.

A new vision formed, showing the Exelian once more, holding a blade. There was a shape at his feet, and by the flash of blonde hair, Emri recognized it as Shea. Before she could jump in between the two, Blaize drove the blade into Shea's back.

"No!" Emri screamed, tearing hear head away from the hand that held her. Her mind went sluggish again. "Shea's the incarnated form of Rhairu, the living embodiment of-" she stopped, shaking her head. "No! I'm not telling you anything!"

"That's quite alright. Next question… Claire."

Emri's eyes widened. Claire couldn't handle that kind of mental torture! He wouldn't dare!

"I'm curious as to who this infamous 'Trace' is. My sources tell me he hangs an awful lot around Hyrule Castle. Especially Her Highness, _Princess_ Zelda." Emri could hear the spitefulness in the name.

"He's… Trace is… a Hylian. A rogue Hylian warrior who helped us reach Hyrule from Termina." Claire sounded like her tongue was swollen; she spoke softly, and slowly, as if choosing her words carefully.

The man grunted disapprovingly. "Anything more you'd like to tell me?"

Emri could hear the sound of liquid in a phial.

"No." Claire muttered.

"Pity."

And then Claire started to protest, whimpering and fighting. Emri desperately wished she could take off the blindfold and see what was going on. Her mind screamed at her what Claire was feeling. She was feeling detestation, and hatefulness, and disgust.

Claire gagged as she was able to breathe again. "That was nasty! And you smell like death! Literally." She took another deep breath, "And I'm not gonna lie. This place here you got. It smells. It smells bad. Like smelly boots. I'm cold. You really don't do a good job of treating your guests with hospitality. I mean, what's up with this? Blindfolding them and tying them to a chair? It's like you're gonna rape-"

"Claire. Shut. Up." Emri hissed. A truth serum… Claire was normally one to speak her mind, but never in this kind of situation.

Emri felt pricklings of satisfaction coming from the unknown presence. "Now, can you tell me more about Trace, my dear?"

"Pff. I'm not your dear. I'm Shea's dear. And no matter how many times you try to convince me otherwise, that's not ever, ever, ever, ever gonna change!"

Emri wanted to laugh. But she felt the pricklings of satisfaction turn into annoyance, and then anger, before she winced when there was a loud _smack!_

"You will tell me what I want to hear!" He roared.

Claire whimpered. "Trace is Shea's father. He's the Hero of Time. He's Link." She sounded like she wanted to cry… Emri could feel the girl's pain.

"Good. Now, what is Princess Zelda planning?"

"That I could not tell you."

There was silence.

Emri felt a hand on her face again, pinching her cheeks so her lips opened. A hot, bitter liquid was forced into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but her head was tilted back, forcing her to swallow. Her mind became foggy, and there was no escaping it.

"Emri. Why did Zelda send you on this quest?" The man growled.

"To get the Triforce back."

And Emri knew they had lost.

--

Shea groaned, and rubbed his head. His body ached… he felt like there were weights on all his limbs; they were hard to move.

And then his eyes snapped open. "Claire!"

Shooting up, Shea still gripped his sword by the hilt, looking around frantically. All around him, he saw… corpses. Looking-like-they-had-been-dead-for-years corpses.

Shea remembered. He remembered being back to back with Claire, watching in horror as these undead warriors slowly came at them. Like the ones that had attacked them when they were crossing Termina? No. These were different. Like they were being controlled somewhere.

Claire.

Claire was gone.

He remembered fighting with three –or four, he couldn't remember that particular detail—of the zombies, when he heard a scream. He had turned his head briefly to see Claire being picked up by one of the zombies. She was throwing punches at its head, kicking violently and swearing in an equally strong voice. But that was the last thing she saw before something hard hit him on the head.

And Emri hadn't come back, either.

The zombies had gone after the girls.

Panicked, Shea started off in a dead run, following the trodden down path of foliage. Surely, the army couldn't have gotten far!

He leaped over a log, barely registering the movement. He was cursing himself. He was cursing himself at not being able to protect Claire, to protect Emri. What good was he, as an incarnate, if he couldn't protect the ones he loved?

"Ack!" Shea yelped as his foot caught on a root, causing him to fall forward. He swore venomously when he felt a crack in his nose when he landed face first. As he stood up, he wiped a hand under his nose, seeing a trail of blood left on his skin… great. Nose broken.

Bracing himself, he put both hands on either side, and pushed. There was a _pop_ and pain.

He looked in the metal of his sword. Nose was straight, albeit messy with blood. Now he could get movin-

Something rustled in the bushes around him. Shea tried to follow the movement, but it was too quick.

"Stupid rabbit…" he guessed, continuing on at a jog, careful to pick his feet up when he ran to avoid falling again. But he couldn't shake the icy cold feeling that kept running up and down his spine that something was following him.

Shea came to a clearing, and he shivered. Was it just him, or had the temperature dropped? The clearing was covered in fog, and during the time it took for him to reach the center (or what he thought was the center), it had thickened.

"Great. I'm lost in fog. And I can't see where I'm going. And I'm talking to myself!" Shea threw his hands up in the air and sat down dejectedly. He couldn't find his way now… he could barely see in front of his fingers. He only hoped that Emri and Claire would hold on, wherever they were, until he got there.

There was a cackle, and he stood up, drawing his sword. The mist swirled in intricate designs, but Shea followed its movement. Another light chuckle echoed through the air, sending shivers down Shea's spine, and making the hairs on his arms stand on end.

"Who's there?" He called out, much more boldly than what he felt.

"My, my, my. What a cute little Hylian boy." The same voice cooed; light and airy. "He looks good."

Shea didn't like the way that last bit was said. "I'm not going to ask again. Who are you?"

"All in good time, lovely," the voice purred, as it circled Shea, "Ah, the Master did say you would be a bit skinny."

His pulse pounded in his ears. Shea didn't like the idea of becoming some sort of meal. "Show yourself." He ordered, taking a defensive stance.

"Oh? You really want to see me that badly?" The mist swirled, and Shea could have sworn he saw a face, "I'm flattered." The voice cackled again, and disappeared into the mist.

"Ohoho, look at the little Hylian boy. He looks so scared, so confused… where, oh where could the hungry monster be? Could he be… here?" Shea whirled around when the voice was right at his ear, but found nothing.

Something breathed near the base of his neck "Or here?" and he slashed out with his sword, only cutting the mist.

The thing cackled again, making Shea turn once more. "Look at how scared it he is. Look at how scared the poor little Hylian boy is." The voice sang, almost as if it was enjoying Shea's terror.

"Show yourself…" Shea hissed, looking around. "Face me, you coward!"

"A coward, now, am I?" The mist swirled, and Shea felt his blood go cold.

He stared into the face of utter horror… there were no words to describe it. Death had rotted away at the skin; what was left of it was a sickly yellow-green. The eyes had sunk far down into the sockets so only the crimson irises were visible. A black cloak clung to its bony shoulders, falling down and swirling in a black fog like substance.

Shea's sword had fell from his hands as he stood, frozen in fear. "W-w-what a-a-re y-y-you—" he couldn't get the words out.

The creature slowly glided towards him, before disappearing and reappearing in a smooth cloud of black-grey smoke. "What am I, you ask?" The thing purred, running a talon-like finger across Shea's collarbone, and breathing in, as if smelling something delicious. "I am a fictitious character in your peoples' nightmares; I am a figment of a wives' tale; I am the highest ranking creature of the night; I am a vampyre."

Shea felt needle-like points on his neck. He couldn't move… those eyes were still painted vividly into his mind, freezing him. He felt air be sucked way as the vampyre inhaled again. "Ahh… I smell a divine bloodline in you… royalty, perhaps? Nobility, definitely." The creature inhaled greedily, "Delicious. I can't remember the last time I tasted the blood of a prince…"

"Well, that's disgusting."

The vampyre screeched; Shea blinked, thought and feeling finally returning to his mind as something smelled like it was burning. Shea ducked down and grabbed his sword, noticing that the mist was fading.

There, writhing on the ground was the vampyre, clawing at its back as smoke billowed off of it. Shea blinked multiple times… what?

The vampyre rose up, and turned away from Shea, red eyes made with fury. "How dare you interrupt my meal?" It hissed.

"Personally, I think he would taste horrible. I mean, think of where he's _been_. Gross."

Shea didn't know whether to be glad, or upset. It was a voice he thought he would never hear again, a voice he never _wanted _hear again. But a voice he was eternally grateful to hear.

Out of the mist, Blaize walked, swinging two twin blades, and his infamous smirk plastered onto his face. "Are you quite finished being a damsel in distress?" He sneered in Shea's direction.

Shea growled, and let out a battle cry as he brought his sword up, and pushed it down into the burnt part of the vampyre's cloak, where it would surely be wounded.

The thing screeched, turning around in anger. "You have to do better than that, weakling!" It extended its claws, and dove for Shea. Shea covered his head protectively, ready for those claws to penetrate his skin…

But it didn't happen. There was sudden silence… and then burning once more.

Shea opened his eyes, and saw Blaize with his two swords stuck in the vampyre's back, red-hot radiation visible from his hands and down the hilt of the sword.

With a soundless screech, the vampyre fell on the ground in a crumpled heap, a wind coming to blow the blackened mist away, leaving the clearing clear as a crystal.

Blaize exhaled and sheathed both swords, and looked at Shea boredly. "What? No thank you? No '_Thank the goddesses, it's Blaize!'_?"

Shea could only stare as remembered hate boiled up inside of him... as he remembered all of the things he had done to them… He screamed, and leapt at the Exelian, sword ready to come down on him…

"Whoah!" Blaize burst, dodging out of the way, putting his hands up. "What's your problem?"

Shea didn't hear him. He attacked again, swinging the sword almost blindly in a mad rage that slowed his mind.

How dare he come back? How dare he save him? How dare he still be smirking when he should be pleading for forgiveness?

Shea's sword was met by both of Blaize's. "Look, Shea, I know you're upset but the girls-"

"_Shuttup!_" Shea pushed against the swords, causing an ear-wrenching screech to fill the air; sparks flew against the grated metal. He glared at Blaize. "We're ending this."

Blaize blinked, and backed away at Shea's expression, "Calm down, Shea. Turn Rhairu off and lets get going! The girls are in trouble and we-"

"What do you care?" Shea interrupted, gripping his sword tighter. "Why do you care if something happens to them? To us? _You _betrayed us in the first place!"

"Yeah, I know. And I'm_ sorry_-"

"Sorry's not gonna cut it!"

Blaize exhaled impatiently, running a hand over his face. "Look, Shea. Derrick's got the girls. And if we don't find them soon, I don't know what he'll do. So, can we save this argument for another time?"

Shea was frozen again. Derrick had Claire? Had Emri? But then he remembered what the Great Fairy had told him. He eyed Blaize warily. "Not a trick to get _me _to _him_?"

"Exelian's honor."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Shea mumbled, sheathing his sword before walking off.

Blaize shouted, "You're going the wrong way!"

"Says you!" Shea snapped back.

"Listen, Shea," Blaize jogged to catch up with the irate boy, "I know I screwed up. Big time. But you have to trust me! For the sake of the girls," he drew in a breath, now that Shea was giving him his full, undivided glare and attention, "When I saw that army of monsters carrying them and not you, I knew that you'd be hot in pursuit. So, I came to find you, because you have no idea what you're up against. Like that vampyre back there." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "So, if you can't trust me for the sake of me, trust me for Emri. For _Claire_."

Shea stared up into Blaize's red eyes. He stared for a long time, trying to find any lie in his eyes, before sighing, defeated. "Fine. But you need to tell me why you're here, how you got here, and how long you've been following us."

The Exelian laughed nervously. "You figured it out?"

"Kind of. Now lets go get the _other _damsels in distress."

And they began to run.

--

_**Aaand, I think I speak for all of us when I say, "I missed Blaize. A lot."**_

_**Review, review!! **_

--


	10. Making Amends

_**Gabbiez: AHAHA! You were having excitement spasms! I'm glad. Anyways, I have to say Emri is very fun to write. She has that kind of mind, ya know?**_

_**Rilricks: Oh, dude. If Blaize were real, I'd be in heaven. Heroics performed by skinny and fire-throwing teenage boys are amazing. **_

_**Rebel: Blaize is bad-ass. I love it.**_

_**Zinachu: BLAIZE IS BACK. Isn't it amazing?**_

_**Chapter 10**_

"Claire? Claire, can you hear me?" Emri whispered, still fidgeting against the ropes.

"Yeah. And Emri, I'm not gonna lie. Your voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard."

"…that's nice. I need you to do something."

Emri sighed. Claire had been hit hard by the truth serum… and Derrick hadn't been able to get answers from her because she was too busy speaking her own mind.

Yes. Yes, she had figured out it was Derrick. She had figured it out by the dark magic; the insane amounts of it pouring off of him in waves. And no one else would have asked such direct questions about Shea, Rhairu, and other related topics.

"Claire, I need you to dig down in my pocket, and get out a razor that I've hidden in there." Emri pushed with her feet against the floor, and slid her chair over until she bumped into –judging by the yelp—Claire. She maneuvered so that Claire's hands should be over her pocket.

Claire's hands searched for the pocket, "You know, Emri. I'm not gonna lie. This is very awkward."

"You can't lie. That's a problem in its own self; now find the razor!"

Emri didn't have to see it to know that Claire had rolled her eyes.

After a few minutes of searching (only Claire would take a few minutes to search for something so painfully obvious in a pocket), Claire let out a triumphant yell.

Emri smiled too, sliding back to her original place on the floor. Don't ask how she knew. "Okay. Now, start sawing away at your ropes. But when you hear someone coming, hide it. We'll get out of here, I promise."

She could hear the soft sound of a razor being slide across rope quickly and repeatedly.

Now to wait.

"…inform King Therion that I'll be meeting with him later this week to discuss our war plans against- " Derrick stopped talking, and Emri could feel his gaze on her. "Well, I wouldn't have expected you two to be awake."

Emri didn't respond.

"What are you still doing here? Go give my dispatch to King Therion!" Derrick ordered to some unknown presence, which left immediately. The man turned his attention back to Emri and Claire. "The undead are so hard to work with." He explained.

"That's just inhumane!" Emri snapped, "The dead should be respected; they should be honored, not treated like slaves!"

Ooh, how she wanted to take this blindfold off and smack him across the face. Many times.

She then wondered how Claire had been coming along on the rope.

Derrick hand captured her face again; Emri could feel his breath on her as he spoke, "Do you want to know what happens to those who take back to me? It's not pretty-"

"Sir," a grotesquely distorted voice interrupted.

"What?" Derrick snapped, clearly annoyed at all the disturbances.

There was a pause, "Two boys run here. Many distance far, but run here anyway. Red eye and purple eye. Cow head and sun-color."

Emri rolled the words around in her head, trying to make sense of them. She gasped involuntarily before sudden anger filled her. Ooh, he wouldn't dare."Let them come. I want to speak to the blonde, personally." Derrick answered, sounding intrigued by this news before turning back to Emri, "Now. Who is this…'red-eyed, cow-headed' friend of yours? You obviously know him."

Emri snapped her teeth together. "He's a worthless piece of human flesh! I'm going to tear him apart when I see him! Tell your creatures to leave him alone, and let me at him! I'll kill him!"

Derrick whistled, "Passion. Anything else?"

"He better not have touched Shea. If he did, I'll skin him alive, and then kill him! Wait, I'll have to castrate him with a dull spoon, first. And then I'll kill him! Muahah…" Emri stopped herself, confused at her own behavior.

Claire scoffed, "Emri, you wouldn't."

"Oh, I would." She growled, "I really, really would…"

Derrick's aura changed to annoyance again. "Who is he?"

"I told you! He's a worthless piece of matter that deserves to be castrated with a dull spoon and burned alive to get a taste of his own medicine." Emri finished indignantly.

"…taste of his own medicine, you say? Care to elaborate?"

"That boy is a walking inferno. Seriously, it's obnoxious how hot he is- I mean gets! How hot in temperature he gets. And he flaunts it, too. 'Oh look at me. I can light a frickin' bonfire in a rainstorm! Whoopdi-do!'" She slumped in her seat, chewing on her tongue.

She could feel Derrick pondering over this. "Thank you, Emri." And then he swiftly left.

Claire waited before she went back to sawing at the rope again. "Emri, you didn't mean everything you said? About Blaize?"

"Of course I did! Keep sawing."

--

Shea looked over when Blaize sneezed twice in a row, and smirked. "Someone's not saying very good things about you."

Blaize grunted.

The blonde frowned again. "So, how long have you been following us?"

"Not long," the Exelian admitted, "I found you a few days ago."

Shea rolled his over in his head, "How'd you know we'd be here? It could be on the other side of the country, for all I know."

Here, Blaize laughed. "Oh, it is. In fact, we're in Lavinar right now. But," he continued, "I've been here for a while, spying on Derrick. I figured you'd try to come after him, so I wanted to get a head start for you. I'd overheard some of his… more intelligent soldiers talking about how the Rhairu incarnate had appeared in the forest a few days ago, and I left in search of you." He glanced at Shea, "…so, why did you lose your temper with Claire yesterday?"

Shea winced. "Lets stay out of that topic for now."

"Fair enough."

"…Lavinar?" Shea asked after a moment of silence. They were still running.

"Lavinar is Hyrule's greatest ally, but soon to be greatest enemy. They're going to war soon, but for a ridiculous reason."

"And that would be-"

"Shuttup. We're almost to Derrick's lair."

Shea ducked down in the bushes next to Blaize, watching a stone opening where figures patrolled lethargically. "What are they?"

"Undead."

"Like the Redead?"

Blaize shook his head, "No. These are actual people raised from their graves and forced to do the necromancer's bidding."

Shea looked at Blaize in disbelief. "That's forbidden, isn't it?"

"Well," Blaize sucked in a breath, "Derrick seems to have overlooked that little detail. Now come on. We need to get the girls out of there."

"Right."

Shea followed Blaize as the pyro snuck around the zombie sentinels. Shea peered at the rusted armor… "Is that-?"

"The Hylian crest? Yes, it is." Blaize answered before drawing his sword and slicing off the zombie's head as it was turning around, and quickly dispatching the other one. "These guys are nothing compared to the guys that attacked you. Nothing compared to the vampyres."

Shea shivered, "There are more of them?"

"As many as Derrick wants. His control over necromancy also includes limbo, the space in between heaven and hell; the place where those who have committed unforgivable sins go. They slowly rot, and become corrupted, eventually turning into vampyres, or some other creature." He shrugged, "If you believe that kind of stuff."

Shea was about to retort when there was a noise from inside the cave, and a dead weight crashed into his chest, sending him flying backward; simultaneously, there was a loud crack as someone's fist made contact with Blaize's face.

"I'll kill you!" Emri screeched, looking down at Blaize with utmost loathing, preparing to kick him in the ribs.

The Exelian was rubbing his jaw, which was hanging open. "E'ri, I 'hink you hararzed hy haw!" _Emri, I think you paralyzed my jaw!_

She sneered, "You sound like a jack-"

"Emri, Emri, Emri. We need to get out of here." Shea stood up, helping Claire up as well, pulling on the irate girl's arm. "Derrick'll be coming after us when he find out you… how did you escape, anyway?"

Claire shook her head, "Story for later. Shea's right. Emri, you can beat up Blaize later. Oh, by the way- Hi, Blaize! Now lets go!"

Blaize stood up and cringed away from Emri's death glare. "Ooh, I'm looking forward to it." She growled before starting to run.

--

Sure enough, the zombie warriors had chased them, filled the forest. The group had hid in the bushes for over two hours… tension thick, with Emri glaring at Blaize the entire time.

By the time the sun had set, they were back at their original camp, salvaging what was left of their supplies.

Blaize looked from where he was standing alongside Shea and Claire to the girl furiously jamming items into her pack. He inwardly winced at the strain of the seams on the bag as it was practically manhandled.

"It's now or never," said Shea impassively, glancing at Blaize from the corner of his eye. Blaize grunted, but began walking over to the immensely upset Emri.

Shea continued to Claire, "It's not like she can still be that mad, right?"

Claire crossed her arms and gave the blonde a look. "Obviously, you don't know much about the female species and holding grudges against the lesser, and not to mention more Neanderthal-prone gender." She sighed, eyes still following Blaize's back in his trudge over.

Blaize, meanwhile, stiffened as Emri turned to give him a glare that would make alive the undead. Women…He leaned against a tree upon getting a few feet from her as she went on stuffing her mat into the pack, her anger making things much more difficult. He almost snorted at her predicament when let out a frustrated exhale.

"Shea and I have made amends," Blaize started.

"Good for you," said Emri stoically, still fumbling with the stuffing of her mat.

"Having difficulties?" Blaize asked innocently. "Because, you know, I could—"

Emri whirled on him, standing up. "Have you finally come to apologize? And if you have, just so you know, you're really bad at carrying it out."

"Look, apologies aren't my forte," he rolled his eyes. "At least I'm trying—"

"Well, you're failing miserably," she snapped. Blaize looked annoyed at being cut off again. "For Goddesses sake! You led us into a trap after gaining our unanimous trust, which inevitably got Shea kidnapped—" she threw her hands up in the air at this; Blaize noted that she still seemed a bit disoriented… like the way she had been after being force-fed the powerful truth serum "—heaven only knows how he even survived that encounter! Do you have any idea how much his absence affected Claire? His _parents_? And then I—"

"You were worried?" He interrupted her. It was unlikely that she would be sounding so heartfelt at a moment like this (despite himself being there to set her off) if she wasn't still under the serum's effects…

Emri gave him an incredulous look. "Of course I was worried! Shea's like the brother I never had—"

"And me?" Blaize pressed, resisting the urge to smile smugly at how the tables were going to turn in his favor now. "You missed me." It wasn't a question.

Emri stared at him blankly; though, she seemed to be fighting something. "No… I mean, I don't know!" Her face started to redden. "Well, sure, I-I guess, but that's not the point," she argued quickly, scowling. "Blast it! _Why are you smirking_?!"

--

Claire and Shea observed the conversation from a distance away.

"She looks like she wants to tear out his spleen with her teeth," Claire commented casually, as if something like that was normal. Shea gave her an appalled look and took an immediate step away.

"What kind of observation is that?!" he exclaimed.

Claire giggled. "What? You don't agree?"

"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't have put it in those exact words…"

"Leave it to Blaize to make Emri more angry, though."

"Heh, I wonder what he said."

--

"You're positively infuriating!" Emri seethed, clutching the fabric of her pants at Blaize's triumphant look.

"I win," he said simply. Emri's jaw clenched.

"Win what?!"

He merely shrugged, basking in a glow of mock-innocence. Emri frowned at his lack of discreetness.

"You are the most contradicted person I have ever met." She sighed. "Ever had the misfortune of meeting, actually. I mean, you betray us, you're completely inept at apologizing for said act, and you just _expect _me to forgive you?"

"Yes."

Emri let out a huff of air. "And what if I don't—"

"I don't _need_ to give you my sentiments of making amends, Emri. You've already forgiven me."

He smirked when she looked as though she wanted to punch him. "And how would you know that? _You're_ not the empath!"

"I don't have to be. My forgiveness is written all over your face. Like I said before: I win."

Emri's eyes flashed. "You've won nothing, you ignoramus!"

"Then why are you blushing?" probed Blaize, raising his eyebrows when she became more flustered. "You're embarrassed because you know I'm right." His smirk broadened.

Emri's eyes narrowed. "I despise you. And for the record, I never missed you." Unfortunately, the heat creeping around her face was almost too much to ignore.

Blaize snorted. "Liar."

"Go die!"

"No—you'd miss me too much."

"_Shuttup_!"

--

After taking refuge behind the bushes when the volume of Emri and Blaize's conversation intensified ten-fold, Claire stole a peek over the leaves towards her friends.

"Have they broken anything yet?" Shea inquired nervously.

"No," started Claire, "but… Emri's blushing."

"Really?!" Shea pushed Claire's head down to look over her, much to the redhead's chagrin. "Lemme see!"

"Shea!" Claire snapped, shoving him back. "I was here first." She sniffed.

After a moment more, she looked over at a sulking Shea. "Hmmm… I wonder why she doesn't just say it…"

"Say what?" Shea asked exasperatedly.

Claire stared at him skeptically, as though assuring herself of his obliviousness. "Boys are way too dense," she declared.

Shea sighed, brow furrowing in a grumpy look. "Well, have they made up yet, at least?"

"Only time will tell," Claire stated wisely.

Shea's shoulders sagged. That hadn't answered his question at all...


	11. Lavinar

**_Huh. I'm sorry guys; this chapter seemed to take forever. I blame school. Sophemore year. No one told me it was going to be this hard. Anyways, thank you all for being patient with me- special thanks to the people who have been faithful in reviewing. _**

**_Rilricks: Oh, you have no idea how much they want each other. :3_**

**_Gabbiez: It's ok. Dying a little is perfectly normal. And that's interesting... well, opposites attract, no?_**

**_Zinachu: Thank you!_**

**_Rebel: Funny story. You'll just have to wait and see what happens to our favorite empath and pyro._**

**Chapter 11**

"Shea."

"Go 'way…"

"Shea, wake up. Thought you might want this."

Shea opened his eyes, and sat up slowly, glaring at the pyro standing above him. "And what is it that I'd want that would think you could wake up me up so ear-"

Blaize was holding a familiar sword out in front of him, a neutral expression on his face. Shea blinked, staring at the golden sheath in disbelief. He reached up, and tentatively took the sword in hand, wrapping his hand around the golden hilt. "I never thought I'd see it again." He whispered, almost thinking out loud. He pulled it out, the metal making a wonderful scraping sound against the hard leather of the sheath. Like the first time holding the blade, it felt like it had been made for him. His hand tingled with the familiarity of it.

Blaize shrugged. "You looked pretty awkward with that second-hand one. And I took the liberty of stealing it back from the Exelians when I… left." His voice took on a hateful edge.

Shea looked up at Blaize curiously, putting the sword back into the sheath and laying it at his side. But Blaize shrugged and turned away. "Just thought you'd want it back." He muttered as he went over to his pack and things. After the… conversation with Emri, the girl had demanded that he be as far from them as possible. She called it 'time-out for being so prudently arrogant.'

"…thanks." Shea muttered after a moment. Blaize paused, but didn't turn around.

"Chickens!" Suddenly, Claire broke the still moment with her call that sent her snapping upward, reaching for the closest heavy object… which was a rock. She breathed heavily, looking around warily before yawning, and turning her head to look at Shea with a bleary smile. "Good morning…" and she laid back down, curling herself around the rock and was asleep once more.

Shea shook his head as he stood up, and began to roll his mat.

Another movement drew his attention. Emri sat up, and stretched. Her brown hair was piled on top her head in a ratted mess… Shea looked away as she turned to glare at him. Note to self: Don't cross Emri today. He thought as he continued to pack up his things.

After everyone was up (it took all three of them to finally pull Claire to her feet), Shea scratched his head, looking up at the trees. "So… where are we again?"

"Lavinar." Blaize repeated, keeping his distance from Emri, who looked like she very much wanted to punch him.

"That would be…?" The said girl pressed.

"Pretty much the other side of where you guys were previously." Blaize nonchalantly replied.

Emri's eyes narrowed, "And you're here, why?"

Blaize ignored her, shouldering his pack. "There's a town to the west of here. If we leave now, we can get there before dark."

Shea nodded. "And maybe we can get some more information about why Lavinar's going to war with Hyrule."

This seemed to come as a surprise to Emri and Claire. "What?!" Emri seemed to squeak.

"Blaize'll explain on the way. We need to get moving." Shea looked at the treetops, only able to pick out the slightest bits of sunshine.

The three nodded, and they followed Blaize, who assumed the leadership position for the time being. "Lavinar has declared war on Hyrule," he started to lead into his explanation, "because Hyrule, apparently, has attacked towns on their borders-"

"What!?" Shea echoed Emri, stopping in his tracks and becoming angry. "Hyrule wouldn't- they couldn't-"

"Let me finish." Blaize looked at the blonde, annoyed at being interrupted. "Anyway, the attacks are actually Derrick's doing. He's summoned fallen Hylian soldiers from limbo and used them against the country they had sworn fealty to in their lifetime."

"Why would he want to do that?" Claire's eyebrows furrowed. She, in fact, remembered Derrick saying something about a King Therion and discussing war plans with him…

"Because," Blaize answered, "he's brainwashed the king of Lavinar and is ruling the country from the shadows. And since Hyrule is the most powerful neighboring country, he's taking them out first."

Shea decided to go out on a whim, "Conquer the world?" He said dryly.

"Exactly. He wants power. Power that he didn't get from Ganondorf…" Blaize said grimly. "He's my so-many-times removed cousin. I can't imagine he would have been happy to know that I got the Triforce of Power and he didn't." He was talking almost to himself now, thoughtfully.

"And since Derrick didn't get the triforce," Emri started slowly, "he's searching for more power. And that power is…" Emri looked at Shea.

Shea chewed on his cheek. "So by attacking Hyrule, he plans to also harness Rhairu's powers, making it easier for him to take over the world."

"He also won't stop at the other triforce pieces, if he gets the opportunity." Blaize said in a wary tone. "And since we're all here… traveling in a group, it's like a smorgasbord of limitless power."

Emri snorted, "Smorgasbord?"

Blaize gave her a deadpanned look. "You're not the only one who can use big words."

"While that may be true, you're the only one idiosyncratic individual in this group! And I don't mean that in a good way." Emri smirked.

"I don't even know what that means! But you use it a lot." Blaize sniffed.

"Oh, good. Then I can fully trust that you can never come up with something intelligent to say in response."

Shea and Claire looked at each other, and they both snorted.

--

Derrick's fist tightened around the reins of his horse, eye narrowing at the forest in front of him. He wasn't particularly happy that the two girls had escaped, along with the Rhairu incarnate and his own cousin…

"Sir?" A hiss that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end echoed in his ear.

Derrick shuddered and turned the horse around to look at the vampyre. "What have I said about sneaking up on me?" He growled, running a hand through his hair in a disgruntled fashion. "What do you want?"

The vampyre's yellow eyes narrowed in sick amusement. "We have confirmation that Ulir is dead."

Derrick frowned. Ulir was the vampyre that he had sent to capture Shea… he knew that the boy had gotten away when he learned that he was with the Exelian, but not that the vampyre was dead. Now the creature was completely useless to him, as the soul was now obliterated.

"Anything else?" Derrick said in an odd tone.

"The children are still in the forest, as well. I can smell them…" the vampyre's voice was laced with gluttonous lust, and its eyes sparked.

The Exelian man looked at the creature with hidden disgust. He often asked himself why he relied on creatures such as vampyres and other undead. "Good… I assume they're heading westward towards the village of Arca." He thought aloud to himself before turning to the vampyre, who seemed to float on the ground with the swirling mist that became the creature's cloak. "Burn the forest."

The vampyre looked surprised. "Burn the forest? King Therion-"

"King Therion is nothing. His mind is little more than a vegetable that answers to me and me only." Derrick turned his horse back around to face the forest. "Burn. It."

The vampyre remained silent before gliding away, mumbling a quick, "Yes, Sir."

Derrick felt his mouth pull up in a cynical smile. Those children could hide for days in the forest. But if he flushed them out, they'd have to go to Arca, or some other village… and he'd been waiting.

He turned his eyes to the fire that was being made. Fire… he had looked forward to that… little family reunion. Either way, he'd get it. He would get the power that should have been his, whether it took using the very element that was stolen from him against the thief, or hunting the boy down himself.

But now, Derrick smiled, now the entire Triforce was together. This would be too easy. And his Exelian relatives had already done the dirty work concerning Rhairu for him. He knew it would be tough to bring the god's essence to the surface of Shea's soul.

Now the only thing left to do was kill him, and take the boy's soul for himself.

--

Emri looked at one person when she smelled smoke. She glared at Blaize. "Did you light something on fire again?" She said scathingly.

Blaize looked offended. "No."

"Well, something is burning. And you're the only suspect here."

Shea stopped, and turned around. "Emri's right. Something is burning."

"It's probably some farmer burning a field." Blaize waved it off, scoffing. "I didn't light anything on fire."

Unanimously, they all started walking at a faster pace, anxious to escape the coming fire. They presumed it was far enough to pose no danger, but close enough for caution.

Shea hung around towards the back of the group, tentatively looking over his shoulder more often than what seemed necessary. He might have seen a red-orange glow through the trees a couple of times, but that could have been the failing sun playing tricks on his eyes.

Up ahead, Emri and Blaize had gone back to arguing about something completely irrelevant, once again.

Something sparked in his mind; the forest sparked up around them. There hadn't been any warning; no chest-constricting smoke, no crackle of fire. It was too sudden to be natural.

Emri was thinking along the same lines. "Blaize! I knew it! You didn't put out the fire this morning, and now we're all going to suffer _because of you_."

"I didn't start it!" Blaize protested, coughing from the smoke.

"I don't care who started it! I'll finish it!" Shea snapped, shoving both Emri and Blaize forward. "But I'd rather not get roasted alive!" He ordered them to run, but speaking was difficult due to the sudden thickening of the smoke in the air.

He took Claire by the shoulders, who had doubled over in a coughing fit, and ran, gently pulling the girl close to him. The heat was making him sweat, and the smoke made his eyes sting and throat clog.

The roar of the fire was all around him, licking at the ground he ran on, threatening to capture him in the wild flames.

Soon, the group broke through the forest, and they all fell to the ground, watching as the fire engulfed the forest behind them and fan out. Fire didn't travel that quickly…

"Do I need to voice my opinion?" Emri muttered gravely.

Shea shook his head. They all were thinking the same thing: Derrick. He hugged Claire close as she finished out her coughing fit.

"…told you I didn't do it."

"Oh, shuttup, you ignoramus."

--

There was only one inn in the small village of Arca. The inn was the center of the village, which fanned out around the large building. A few houses littered the place, but mostly, there were stores and other commercial buildings.

Shea was looking at a bulletin board out in front of the inn, squinting at the small text on some of the pages. Claire was beside him, reading as well. The girl's green eyes scanned quickly over the pages, but she did a double take on one.

"…Blaize, you haven't become a wanted criminal, have you?" She asked warily.

Blaize shoved Claire aside and looked at the poster, tearing it down to get a better look. "It's not just me. That doesn't even look like me, first of all, and secondly, there's Shea, you, and Emri here."

Emri snatched the poster away from Blaize, staring at her small portrait with wide, disbelieving eyes. She blinked a few times. "…I'm not wanted. How can I be wanted? I didn't do anything! I'm not wanted!"

"According to this posture, sweetheart, you are." Blaize drawled.

Emri resisted the urge to punch Blaize in the jaw again. "What I don't get is why Blaize is worth twice as much as I am. 300,000 rupees," she scoffed, handing Shea the posture, "how can I be worth less than _Blaize?"_

"I'm more dangerous. That's why." Blaize flashed a grin.

"…Shea, you're worth 1,500,000 rupees. That's a lot of rupees." Claire stared at the price with a kind of awe.

"Huh. I wonder what I did wrong." Shea pondered, eyes scanning the page for any rhyme or reason for why they were now criminals.

Wanted

Shea Harkinian (1,500,000 rupees), Blaize (600,000 rupees), Emri Cailyn (300,000 rupees), and Claire (250,000 rupees)

for arson, defiling of an ancient shrine, murder of Lavinian guard, illegal crossing of the Lavinar and Hyrule border, and illegal refuge in the sacred forest

According to Lavinian law, all Hylians having crossed into the Lavinian border without written consent from His Majesty must be arrested and tried for illegal border crossing.

Upon sight of these criminals, contact the local guard immediately. Harkinian claims to be the Hylian God of Balance Incarnate. Blaize claims to control fire. Be alert; any reported sightings will be rewarded with a 100,000 rupee purse.

"_Wanted!"_ Emri exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I can't believe it. Wanted."

"Claire, this picture looks nothing like you." Shea ignored Emri and held the poster up to Claire's face. "The artist must have screwed up; your neck isn't really that long, and you look like you want to hurt someone." He said, good-humoredly.

Claire snorted, "And what, your picture is perfect?"

"I think it's pretty accurate, actually."

"It's too menacing." Claire simply stated, "You're not mean enough in actuality to look like that."

Shea frowned before commenting, "Emri looks like she wants to punch Blaize in the face."

"Oh, do I…" Emri growled, glaring at Blaize as if this was all his fault.

"And Blaize… your bangs are wrong."

Blaize snorted, and crossed his arms. "That's a good thing. Because no one will ever be able to recognize me." He said smugly.

"You _are_ the only one with cow-colored hair." Emri mumbled under her breath. "And the only one who's bangs stick out a mile from their forehead in carrot-sticks."

The Exelian chose to ignore her. "Anyway, I highly doubt I qualify for being a Hylian-"

"You're a Hylian no matter what two ways you look at it. Now be quiet and think of a way to get us out of this mess." Emri snapped.

Claire tilted her head, "I'm not a Hylian, and neither are you…" she got a curious spark in her eyes. "Where _are_ you from, Emri?"

Shea felt like the odd-one-out, now. But he put the matter aside and too looked at Emri curiously.

The girl felt cornered. She stared at her comrades, and gave a good hearted laugh. "Of course I'm not Hylian. Whatever gave you that idea in the first place?"

"You're hiding something." Blaize stated.

"No, I'm not."

Shea sighed, "Lets just drop the subject, for now and figure out how we're going to go around traveling Lavinar if we're wanted."

"And," Emri, grateful for a change of subject, spoke up, "figure out exactly what Derrick's been doing in Lavinar."

"All the while remaining incognito." Blaize nodded.

"Stop using big words! It doesn't sound right." Emri sniffed. "But Blaize is right… we need disguises."

While the three others threw out ideas, Blaize looked around, and the candle flicked on in his head. "Hey, guys."

Ignoring.

"Emri. Shea. Claire."

Nothing.

"Hello?"

Nope.

"_OH, HELL! THE GUARDS ARE COMING!"_

Emri spun on her heel, whipping out her bo-staff. Shea quickly drew his sword, and took a stance. Claire put her fists up, looking around wildly.

While Blaize had exclaimed only to get their attention, their reaction was much better than expected. He howled in laughter, doubling over. "You thought I was serious!"

Shea was not amused. He whacked Blaize on the top of the head with the sword hilt. "Of course we did! You don't just find out you're possible the largest criminal in a foreign country and joke about that kind of thing! You just don't!"

Blaize had calmed down, and put his hand up in the air. "Okay, sorry. But seriously, I have an idea."

Claire frowned. "Are we doing to like it?"

Here, Blaize looked nervously at Shea… and then Emri. "Depends on your view of things."

Emri raised an eyebrow. "Spit it out."

"See that building over there?" Blaize pointed to an almost run-down version of the large inn they were standing in front of.

"Yeah…?" Shea failed to see where Blaize was going with this.

"That looks like what a 'red-light district' would be in building form."

Emri scowled, "And how would you know this?"

"Not that I've been to one! I've just seen them from afar!" Blaize argued, "Anyway, a lot of gossip normally pass through those-"

"No." Shea interrupted curtly, face set in a placid expression. "No."

"I'm not implying you doing anything-"

"I know exactly what you're implying. And my answer is no."

Emri caught on. "Uh uh. I'm not dressing up as a… as a… prostitute just to get rumors!"

Claire was the only one who hadn't spoken up. Now, all three faces were turned to look at her. She felt small, especially when Shea and Emri were both bearing down on her. "Um… it's actually a good idea. It'll be easy to hide our appearances because lighting could be dark and make-up can hide our features." She said feebly.

Shea stared at her. He blinked. And blinked again. "…what?"

"I'm saying we go for it."

He wanted to twitch. He wanted to fall onto the ground in a twitching fit. "Claire? Can I talk to you for a second?" Shea said in a strange tone.

Claire nodded, and let Shea lead her over away from the two, who began arguing about whether this was a good idea or not. "Claire, I don't like the plan because it puts you in danger."

Claire laughed, "Shea, I'll be fine-"

"Drunks, Claire. In a brothel. Not a good combination." Shea was starting to become concerned.

"I know." The girl's face straightened into a serious, thin-lipped stare. "But it's the only plan we've got. And besides, I'm probably under-aged anyway."

"That won't stop _them_ from… attempting." Shea struggled out.

"You worry too much." Claire hugged Shea tightly, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Everything'll be fine."

Shea still didn't agree, but sighed. "If anything happens to you or Emri-"

Claire laughed, and shoved Shea back over to the other two. "Lets do this thing."

--


	12. NOTE FROM SHINJI: Sorry

Dear Readers:

Hey, Shinji here.

I have to apologize... life has gotten very busy, and -Kat- and I have left you hanging on our stories... we have great explanations for this.

-Kat- has graduated from high school. Life is completely busy for her, and there has been no time to work on Fortuitous. She is deeply sorry, and wants to get back to it as soon as she can.

I, Shinji, have hit a complete roadblock and am currently working on a rewrite of Forever After. My writing skills have increased dramatically since I first started, and it just seems very inconsistent. The plot will not change... but a few of the events leading up to it all will.

With summer on its way, our time will hopefully return, and so will our stories. Again, we are sorry, and I regret that life sometimes gets the best of us.

But I will be deleting Forever After I and replacing it with the new version soon.

~Shinjiru_Kokoro and -Kat-


End file.
